The Senate passed legislation late Monday to reopen the government, bringing the longest shutdown in history closer to an end as a handful of Democrats joined with GOP Senators and voted out their CR by a 60 to 40 vote despite searing criticism from within their party. Both Oklahoma Senators voted throughout the shutdown to pass the clean CR sent to the Senate by the House.
The House vote to end the shutdown could come as early as Wednesday as Speaker Mike Johnson told members of the House on Monday to start returning to Washington ASAP. Reuters reports “With nearly 1,200 flights canceled on Tuesday due to the shutdown, lawmakers including Republican Representatives Rick Crawford of Arkansas and Trent Kelly of Mississippi said they were carpooling to the Capitol, while Representative Derrick Van Orden said he was making the 16-hour drive from Wisconsin on his motorcycle.” The House is slated to reconvene at 11 a.m. central time on Nov. 12. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer notified lawmakers that the first votes could occur as early as 3 p.m., but multiple series of votes are expected.
For Agriculture- the end of the shutdown can not come too soon. Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau, released a statement on Tuesday- “Farm Bureau commends the Senate for voting to end the government shutdown, ensuring that farmers and ranchers can continue to rely on critical USDA services and disaster relief to keep their farms running and also ensure Americans maintain access to food assistance programs. “We also appreciate the Senate’s action to extend the U.S. Grain Standards Act and key farm bill programs, as well as authorizing USDA’s 2026 budget. These actions, along with the improvements to farm programs in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will provide much-needed certainty for farmers as we work with Congress to pass a modernized five-year farm bill. “Farm Bureau urges members of the House to act swiftly and pass this legislation so it can reach President Trump’s desk without delay.”
If the House passes the Senate approved deal- President Trump has signaled that he will sign it and that will officially end the shutdown.
One unknown is how long it will take for USDA to ramp up their information gathering process to move forward with government issued reports like the weekly Crop Progress report- will there be a report as early as this coming Monday, November 17th?
Ahead of the shutdown developments- USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) said that they will release key data in November for the following reports:
- Milk Production – November 10, 2025 (previously scheduled for October 22, 2025)
- Crop Production – November 14, 2025 (previously scheduled for November 10, 2025)
- Cattle on Feed – November 21, 2025 (as previously scheduled)
- Milk Production – November 21, 2025 (as previously scheduled)
- The World Agricultural Outlook Board will release the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) in conjunction with the Crop Production release on November 14th.
