H.R. 5371 is a large, multipart funding bill that provides continuing appropriations and full-year appropriations across multiple cabinet areas while folding in dozens of program extensions and policy riders. It bundles a short-term funding pathway with full‑year line items and program changes across Agriculture, the Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, public health extenders, and other accounts.
Practically, the Act keeps federal programs running on a set of temporary terms while turning on a number of new and expanded authorities — most notably a new, dedicated user‑fee program for over‑the‑counter (OTC) monograph drugs and multiple extensions for veterans, public‑health and farm programs. Implementation will demand fast rulemaking, new fee systems, and cross‑agency coordination at the same time many agencies must operate on stopgap funding levels.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Act continues operations at most agencies at FY2025 funding rates and under FY2025 terms until one of three events occurs — enactment of FY2026 appropriations, enactment of an FY2026 appropriations act that excludes a project, or January 30, 2026 — and at the same time contains full appropriations and policy provisions across several divisions (Agriculture; Legislative Branch; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs; Health extenders; and miscellaneous). It also creates and funds an OTC monograph drug user fee program, authorizes tens of billions for veterans’ toxic‑exposure response, and extends many expiring public‑health and Medicaid authorities.
Who It Affects
Federal departments and agencies that rely on appropriations (USDA, VA, DoD, HHS/FDA, Homeland Security), legislative and congressional support offices, health‑care providers and manufacturers (notably OTC drug manufacturers and contract manufacturers), state and local grantees (food and farm programs, rural development), and veterans and beneficiaries whose benefits are covered by the bill.
Why It Matters
This package both averts an immediate funding lapse and imposes near‑term policy and administrative work: agencies must run on limited, carryover-based authority while standing up major new programs (OTC user fees) and absorbing large new appropriations (veterans’ toxic‑exposure funding). The mixture of stopgap funding and new, complex authorities creates operational risk, tight timelines for rulemaking, and new compliance obligations for regulated industry.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
Division A operates like a targeted continuing resolution: it authorizes continuing projects at FY2025 rates and conditions for a limited period and sets three stopping points — enactment of FY2026 appropriations, enactment of a FY2026 appropriations act that omits a covered project, or January 30, 2026. The text restricts certain DoD activities (no new produc- tion items not funded in FY2025, no initiation of projects lacking prior‑year authority, limits on multi‑year procurements using advance procurement funding) and includes detailed apportionment and rescission rules.
A noteworthy management rule: agencies may apportion civilian personnel compensation to avoid furloughs only after taking specified administrative cost reductions.
Division B is a full Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and related agencies appropriation. It funds USDA operating accounts, research, NASS Census of Agriculture, crop insurance and numerous programs by line item.
The text contains many targeted earmarks, programmatic conditions (e.g., matching floors, minimum grants), special transfers and technical authorities, and reporting requirements for the Secretary and OMB. It also includes multiple statutory date substitutions and carryover/repurposing authorities intended to preserve program continuity during the CR window.Division D and other veterans sections appropriate large sums to the Veterans Benefits and Veterans Health Administrations and create or continue targeted programs.
The bill establishes a large Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund and dedicates substantial additional resources to VA health care, community care, medical facilities, and claims workloads. It also extends Inspector General subpoena authorities and a range of administrative authorities for VA operations.
These are paid in part by appropriations in the package and create multi‑year obligations that agencies must plan to run out and manage.Division F (among other health extenders) installs a new statutory user‑fee mechanism for OTC monograph drugs. The FDA is authorized to collect facility fees and OTC monograph order request fees, and the statute sets a multi‑year fee schedule framework (base revenue, inflation and operating‑reserve adjustments, and ad hoc workload adjustments).
The amendments also add statutory reporting, require FDA to accept certain consensus testing standards for topical products and to issue guidance and stakeholder engagement plans (including minutes of negotiating meetings), and authorize specific transition dates and implementation timelines. The law directs GAO and the FDA to produce multiple reports on supply chains, fee‑setting and program performance.Across the bill are dozens of extensions of expiring authorities for public‑health, Medicaid, Medicare and other programs — for example, community health centers, WIC funding reserve authority, No Surprises Act implementation funding and a slate of health security authorities.
It also extends selected veterans and housing authorities temporarily and authorizes additional smaller targeted programs. Finally, the Act includes multiple administrative constraints and reporting rules (reprogramming limits, notifications, limits on contract incentive payments when performance is substandard, prohibitions on certain IT procurements from parties on specific lists) designed to preserve congressional control over changes while agencies operate under short‑term funding.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The continuing appropriations authority keeps most activities running at FY2025 rates and terms but expires no later than January 30, 2026 unless superseded by enacted FY2026 appropriations.
The bill establishes an OTC monograph user‑fee program: FDA may assess annual facility fees and per‑order request fees, with FY2026 fees assessed to the FY2025 registration population and payments first due in mid‑2026 under a phased schedule.
The package includes a $52.676 billion Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund for veterans’ health care, disability and research related to toxic exposures, available until expended.
The Act prohibits reductions in force using federal funds during the CR window, rescinds previously issued RIF notices that occurred between October 1, 2025, and enactment, and requires agencies to restore affected employees with back pay.
The DoD is barred, during the CR authority, from initiating production of items not funded in FY2025, increasing production rates above FY2025‑funded levels, or initiating projects without prior‑year authority; multiyear procurements using advance procurement funding are also barred unless later specifically appropriated.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Continuing appropriations mechanics and constraints
Division A is the stop‑gap engine of the Act. It continues projects and operations at the FY2025 rate for a limited period, lays out the three events that terminate CR authority, and includes tight operational rules: DoD procurement ceilings, limits on initiating new projects, special rules for entitlements and mandatory payments, and authority for OMB to report rescissions. For compliance officers: the CR includes specific apportionment and reporting requirements, restrictions on grants and high initial distribution rates, and a hard prohibition (with narrowly defined exceptions) on using federal funds to implement reductions‑in‑force during the covered period.
Agriculture, FDA, and rural development appropriations (line items and riders)
Division B reads like a traditional approps title: line items for USDA mission areas, NASS and Census of Agriculture funding, earmarked research and extension dollars, assistance programs and loan authorizations, plus a raft of programmatic riders (tribal set‑asides, matching floors, banned uses). The text also repurposes prior balances, authorizes specific transfers and adds technical statutory substitutions for contract deadlines. Practically, state offices, cooperative extension, and rural borrowers should expect continued flows at FY2025 rates for the CR window and detailed notification and reporting requirements before significant program changes.
Large veterans appropriations and the toxic‑exposure fund
Division D provides the bulk of the veterans funding. It appropriates billions across compensation, readjustment benefits, housing loan programs and substantial VA health‑care accounts. Of particular operational consequence is the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund: a very large, open‑ended fund with a dedicated appropriation and a mandate for medical care, benefits and research related to environmental exposures. The VA will have new actuarial and program management responsibilities and must retool claims and health delivery processes to absorb both recurring and one‑time commitments.
OTC Monograph drug user fee law — structure and duties
This new statutory subtitle authorizes FDA to assess two principal fee types — annual facility fees (assessed on monograph‑related facilities) and OTC monograph order request fees — to fund monograph review and safety activities. The statute prescribes multi‑year revenue signaling (base revenue, inflation adjustments, reserve and workload adjustments), explicit fee due dates (with a phased FY2027 split payment), and annual Federal Register fee publications. It also directs FDA to accept consensus testing standards for topical actives, requires guidance on non‑animal alternatives for sunscreens/topical products, and directs public minutes and reporting of negotiation meetings and program performance.
VA extenders and targeted veterans authorities
Division G extends a suite of authorities for VA program continuity — from suicide‑prevention grants to rural mental‑health programs to housing and caregiver authorities — and postpones expiration dates across a range of VA statutory powers. It contains provisions strengthening oversight (Inspector General subpoena authority extensions) and temporary modifications to insurance, claims processing and outreach funds. These are largely roll‑forwards of expiring laws but they require VA systems and regional offices to maintain legacy processes for an additional year.
Selected HHS program extensions and Medicare technical fixes
Division F contains numerous health extenders: short extensions for community health centers, National Health Service Corps, WIC contingency reserves, No Surprises Act implementation support, and temporary extensions of telehealth flexibilities and certain Medicare payment phases. The Act also delays specific Medicare payment changes and provides short‑term funding to permit continued operations while Congress completes FY2026 appropriations.
Budgetary and administrative housekeeping; PAYGO and reporting rules
Division H includes cross‑cutting fiscal language: PAYGO and scorecard instructions, reporting and notification rules for quarterly obligation plans, limits on executive branch communications, and a variety of prohibitions (e.g., certain IT procurements, first‑class travel limits). Those administrative provisions shape how agencies may reprogram funds, obligate in‑year balances, and begin new projects under CR conditions.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Government across all five countries.
Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Veterans and beneficiaries — The bill injects large, dedicated funding into VA health care (including a Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund) and extends multiple VA authorities that maintain access to care, housing assistance, and claims support.
- OTC monograph stakeholders — Manufacturers and contract manufacturers get a defined regulatory path to finalize monograph order requests through a fee‑funded program that should accelerate monograph modernization and bring predictability to FDA review timelines.
- Rural communities and farmers — USDA and rural development accounts receive continuing resources, plus specific new and repurposed funding for rural broadband, water/waste projects, conservation, and farm programs that sustain services and grant flows.
- Congress and Capitol operations — The Legislative Branch title funds day‑to‑day operations, security, and Capitol Police reimbursements, and provides targeted resources for intern and committee operations, preserving capacity through the CR.
Who Bears the Cost
- Federal budget / taxpayers — The package increases near‑term discretionary spending and creates substantial new commitments (notably the veterans exposure fund), so the public fisc bears long‑term liability and near‑term financing pressure.
- FDA‑regulated OTC facilities — Facilities and contract manufacturers must register and pay the new facility fees and per‑order fees; smaller firms will need to absorb registration, compliance, and potential testing‑standards costs.
- Departmental program managers — Agencies must run critical programs on temporary authority while implementing major new systems (fee collection, OTC review pipelines, VA program expansions), raising operational complexity and administrative cost.
- DoD supply chains and prime contractors — The CR forbids new production and expanded rates for items not funded in FY2025 and prohibits multi‑year procurements using advance procurement funding absent later appropriation, constraining program starts and workshare planning.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
Congress chose to solve an immediate funding problem and advance major program changes in the same bill; that produces a genuine dilemma — preserve short‑term operational continuity by imposing FY2025 terms on agencies, or provide the certainty agencies need to implement ambitious new programs like the OTC user‑fee system and the veterans toxic‑exposure fund. The bill tries to do both, but running an agency on stopgap authority while asking it to stand up significant new regulatory or benefits infrastructure creates trade‑offs between speed, quality, and cost that have no tidy answer.
Two structural trade‑offs dominate this Act. First, Congress combined a short‑term continuing appropriation with the creation or expansion of complex, multi‑year programs.
Agencies must therefore both conserve funding and launch new systems — the OTC monograph fee regime at FDA, VA’s toxic‑exposure program administration, and several Medicare/Medicaid payment deferrals — all under compressed timelines. That raises real operational risk: rulemaking, vendor procurement, and IT builds have fixed lead times and cannot be reliably compressed without absorbing cost or quality risk.
Second, the OTC user‑fee design tries to balance predictable fee revenue for FDA against the administrative and cost burdens on a fragmented manufacturing base. The statute builds a multi‑factor revenue formula and multi‑year adjustments, but the early years rely heavily on fee assessment methods tied to prior‑year registration counts and include one‑time workload adjustments; this creates uncertainty for both fee payers (who must plan cash flow) and for FDA (which must scale hiring and enforcement rapidly).
There are implementation frictions the text does not fully resolve. FDA must stand up fee collection and allocation systems starting in FY2026, publish fee schedules, accept consensus testing standards, and produce guidance on non‑animal alternatives — all while taking on greater postmarket surveillance responsibilities.
Similarly, the VA is receiving unprecedented single‑fund appropriations for toxic‑exposure care; actuarial planning, claims administration, and coordination with Veterans Benefits Administration require resources and policy decisions (eligibility, benefit design) that the statute leaves to agency design work. Finally, the CR‑style funding cliff remains an unresolved risk: the whole package effectively defers several final budget choices to a short window in early 2026, compressing Congress’s and agencies’ calendars and elevating the risk of rushed policy changes or further stopgaps.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.