Government Archive

After a more than 40-day government shutdown, a small group of Senate Democrats gave Republicans the votes they needed to end the shutdown without a vote on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Let’s look at what they didget. ‘Clean’ continuing resolution through January 30 The agreement to reopen the government includes a short continuing resolution that continues last year’s funding through January 30, 2026. This gives Congress a pressing deadline to continue bipartisan negotiations over a full-year funding agreement but also sets up another potential shutdown just over two months f…

Recent comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the White House hint at plans to pause the new regulations introduced earlier this year with the Affiliates Rule, or the 50% Rule, amid ongoing talks with China.   Why it matters: The United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) plans to suspend enforcement for a year, aligning with China’s plan to postpone export restrictions on rare earths for one year, according to the White House.   In September, BIS introduced the Affiliates Rule, restricting entities that are 50% or more owned, di…

Anyone who has turned on the news in the past two weeks likely knows that Republican and Democratic leaders have been unable to reach an agreement on government funding as the now three-week government shutdown continues. Democrats are refusing to pass a ‘clean’ funding bill, demanding an extension of the expiring Obamacare tax credits, and Republicans are holding firm despite public polling in support of the subsidies sitting at over 70%. They argue that Congress has plenty of time to extend the subsidies. So, where does the truth lie? Unsurprisingly, somewhere in the middle. Insuran…

The Senate introduced an amendment to raise the debt limit for Subchapter V bankruptcy filings from $3 million to $7.5 million. Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code offers small businesses an alternative to filing for a traditional bankruptcy that is more expedited and cost-efficient but shifts some of these burdens onto credit managers.   The debt limit was initially $2.7 million when Subchapter V was created under the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) of 2019, but it was raised to $7.5 million in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The heightened de…

In a rare bankruptcy-focused hearing in the House on July 15th, Members of Congress demonstrated a surprising level of interest in the topic, discussing an array of six or seven potential changes to bankruptcy code, but not quite achieving consensus yet. One proposal that, on the surface, received wide bipartisan support was restoration of the COVID-era Subchapter V $7.5 million debt eligibility ceiling. Looking more deeply, however, it is a little too early to call it a done deal.

President Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” signed into law on July 4th. Since then, Democrats have focused on its potential impact, warning that it could reduce access to health care and food assistance for many Americans—a message that has dominated the news cycle. Many of the cuts don’t start going into effect until the end of 2026, after the midterm election.

A new law in California went into effect July 1, increasing regulations on business-to-business transactions by broadening consumer protection laws to include the commercial debts of small businesses. While credit professionals with customers in California are familiar with the RFDCPA, the newly expanded scope of the law places commercial creditors in unfamiliar terrain, prompting the need to reconsider California debt collection practices.

This past Friday, President Trump released his 2026 budget outline, proposing the largest cuts to non-defense spending in decades and zeroing out dozens of programs across the federal government. In line with much of what the President has already done in his first 100 days, the cuts are deep enough to alarm not just Democrats, but moderate Republicans as well, and time will tell if the proposal will get any real consideration by Congress.