The US Senate voted 60-40 late Nov. 9 to advance a bipartisan funding package that positions Congress to end the 41-day federal shutdown later this week, but the package has yet to receive final Senate approval.
Several senators indicated they may not agree to a final vote on the package in its current form, which could delay the reopening of the government by several days.
The Nov. 9 vote to end debate leaves the Senate amending a House-passed continuing resolution with a bipartisan deal that would restore government operations and put most civilian agencies under temporary funding until Jan. 30, 2026.
Senate leaders have indicated they hope to clear the measure before a scheduled weeklong recess, adding pressure to reach an agreement on the timetable. The package would also allow a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire in mid-December as a concession to Democrats, though that vote won’t guarantee enactment or even guarantee that the House will bring the measure up for a vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Nov. 10 urged members to return to Washington “right now,” saying he will reconvene the chamber as soon as the Senate completes its work. Johnson said President Donald Trump is “very anxious” to reopen the government, adding that he hopes to have enough Republican votes to pass the package once it reaches the House.
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The imminent closure of the corps’ permitting unit adds another wrinkle to potential project delays
The continuing resolution (CR) that would restore funding retains many of the constraints that shaped the shutdown itself, including bans on new program starts and limited spending authority that delayed federal permits, slowed contract administration, and halted discretionary grant activity for six weeks.
The agreement provides appropriations through fiscal year 2026 for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the legislative branch. All other executive branch departments remain under a CR at FY2024 levels through January 30.
A section-by-section summary prepared by the Senate Appropriations Committee states that agencies cannot initiate programs or activities that did not have funding from the previous year during the time period the CR is in effect.
These statutory limits will shape how infrastructure agencies restart their operations after the shutdown. The DOT still lists parts of the department as down and has not provided detailed guidance on when contract processing, grant administration, environmental reviews or reimbursement operations will resume.
EPA, together with the Departments. of Interior and Labor, laid off most of their environmental review and permitting staff during the funding expiration.
The DOT shutdown plan notes that the Federal Transit Administration cannot advance major capital projects without endorsements from those agencies, meaning the absence of full-year appropriations will continue to slow interagency reviews of highway and transit grants even after employees return.
The pain becomes apparent
Some of the most visible impacts of the shutdown came in the aviation sector. Reuters reported that as of Nov. 9, more than 2,800 flights had been canceled and more than 10,000 delayed as unpaid air traffic controllers worked under severe staff shortages at high-volume facilities.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy ordered airlines to reduce scheduled operations by 10% at 40 major airports from November 8 to ease pressure on the system.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the reductions were necessary to maintain safety, while the TSA reported extended security lines at several airports, including waits of up to three hours in Houston.
For the engineering and construction sector, the most acute consequence has been in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps’ regulatory program, which issues Section 404 wetlands permits and jurisdictional determinations, has been closed since Oct. 1. Because the regulatory program is based on annual appropriations, it remains subject to CR restrictions on new activity until full operations resume.
Eric Beightel, former executive director of the federal Permit Review Board, told ENR in a Nov. 1 interview that delays in environmental approvals can add up quickly.
“A lot of projects have construction windows, or there are windows to do certain field surveys, and any delay just sets it back, and there are times when you can lose a whole year because you’ve missed a window of opportunity,” he said.
The supervision of civil works has also been altered. On Oct. 17, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought ordered the Corps to halt and review more than $11 billion in civil works projects that he described as lower priority, citing limited oversight capacity during the shutdown.
Officials from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works said staff would focus first on projects essential to “life and safety.”
Senate Appropriations Vice Chairwoman Patty Murray and House Appropriator Marcy Kaptur have asked the Corps to identify the projects on hold, but no list had been released as of early November.
The uncertain environment has been further complicated by public comments from President Donald Trump, who declared on October 15 that some major infrastructure projects were “finished”.
Despite these remarks, work continues on two of New York City’s most prominent programs: the Gateway Development Commission’s $16 billion Hudson River Tunnel project and the Second Avenue subway extension to East Harlem.
Partially armored
Other DOT modes are somewhat isolated. The Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Federal Transit Administration have all continued operations as their staff are funded through the Highway Trust Fund or the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act advance appropriations.
Reimbursements for ongoing projects have therefore continued during the shutdown. However, new awards requiring coordination with agencies still under the CR cannot be advanced until those agencies resume their authorization and review functions.
The Federal Railroad Administration, which laid off about 35 percent of its workforce, has limited activity to accident investigations and other safety-critical work, leaving routine approvals and environmental reviews on hold.
AGC Vice President Brian Turmail said the reopening should allow federal officials to resume inspections, approve change orders and eliminate administrative delays. “Reopening the government should allow federal construction projects that have had their funding suspended, delayed by the absence of federal officials to inspect work, sign change orders or make other key decisions or affected by the shutdown,” he said.
As of November 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has delayed the October employment report and the September and October employment survey and job turnover reports due to the shutdown. An exception was made for the September consumer price index, released on October 24. BLS has stated that the October CPI report is likely to be delayed.
Kristen Swearingen, vice president of government affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors, said the extended shutdown has increased uncertainty for many contractors, especially when it comes to government data.
“Over the past 41 days, the shutdown has created uncertainty for ABC contractors across the country,” Swearingen said. “This includes delays in critical federal infrastructure projects and the loss of [federal] economic data that inform those responsible for the construction”.
Short-term prospects
Projects not yet contracted may experience extended delays. The Office of Management and Budget’s shutdown guidelines prohibit the Corps from awarding new contracts during a continuing resolution unless funding has already been allocated.
Industry officials said the body dredging program, which relies on a constant cycle of new awards, could experience long-term effects. Indefinite-delivery and indefinite-quantity contracts remain in effect, but agencies cannot issue new task orders funded by annual appropriations until full-year authority returns.
The agreement authorizes back pay for all furloughed and unpaid federal employees and reinstates those who received effective retrenchment notices. CR Section 112 allows agencies to distribute funds in a manner that precludes new permits.
But restoring full operations at DOT, EPA and the Corps will require furloughing thousands of employees, re-establishing interagency coordination and resolving more than six weeks of backlog reviews, refunds and pending approvals.
Even if enacted this week, the Jan. 30 deadline gives most civilian agencies less than three months to operate before the next potential funding impasse.
For state DOTs, transit agencies, water utilities, and the engineering and construction industry, this timeline creates a compressed and uncertain federal budget cycle as permitting, procurement and grant administration already face significant delays.
The end of the shutdown will return federal staff to their posts, but for the agencies that underwrite and oversee the nation’s infrastructure programs, the reopening marks the beginning, not the end, of a long recovery shaped by the limitations of the continuing resolution and the backlog created by a 41-day lapse.
