Shutdown Ends, Federal Government Reopens. The record-breaking forty-three-day federal government shutdown ended this week. On the evening of November 12, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law a spending package that extended government funding for most federal agencies through January 30, 2026, while also funding the legislative branch and the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs through September 30, 2026. The deal also reversed the layoffs of federal employees that had occurred during the shutdown and ensured that furloughed federal workers would receive back pay. Notably, the legislative package did not include an extension of Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Thus, with the spending issue merely postponed and the healthcare debate unresolved, the Buzz expects these issues to remain front and center in the U.S. Congress for the remainder of the year and into 2026.
There is one other item to note about the shutdown that could have labor and employment policy implications going forward. Multiple times during the shutdown, including when President Trump signed the eventual spending deal into law, he called for an end to the legislative filibuster. With roughly three more years left in office, the Buzz suspects this won’t be the last time President Trump makes this demand. If Republicans abandon the filibuster to push through their legislative priorities (which could include things like employment-based immigration reform), Democrats will likely do the same when they control Congress.
Agency Personnel Update. Late last week, the following officials were sworn in to leadership positions within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
- Jonathan Berry now serves as the solicitor of labor.
- Andrew Rogers serves as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division.
- David Keeling serves as the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, leading the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
- Daniel Aronowitz serves as assistant secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
- Wayne Palmer serves as the assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, leading the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
With these political appointees in place and other agency personnel back on the job, the DOL’s regulatory and enforcement agendas are expected to kick into high gear in the coming weeks.
Additionally, Andrea Lucas was officially made chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), removing the “acting” designation that she had held since the beginning of the year. While the move doesn’t provide Chair Lucas with any additional legal authority, it does give her greater internal influence within the Commission and indicates that her agenda will remain in place going forward.
Republicans Seek Labor Reform. This week, U.S. Senate Republicans released a slate of bills aimed at reforming current labor law practices and procedures. The bills are as follows:
- ‘‘Worker Reforming Elections for Speedy and Unimpeded Labor Talks Act’’ (‘‘Worker RESULTS Act’’). The bill would:
- require bargaining representatives to be chosen solely through a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board;
- require at least two-thirds of all employees in a bargaining unit to vote in a secret-ballot election for a bargaining representative to be elected;
- prohibit the filing of a decertification petition before a collective bargaining agreement goes into effect. However, the bill would allow for a ninety-day decertification “window period” if the Board finds the labor union is not bargaining collectively in good faith;
- allow decertification petitions to be filed after the first two years of a collective bargaining agreement. Currently, employees must wait until after the third year to file a decertification petition; and
- require the party filing an unfair labor practice charge for purposes of blocking an election to provide “a written offer of proof in support of the charge.”
- “NLRB Stability Act.” This bill would require the Board, when issuing an order, to follow the precedent established by the U.S. court of appeals in the circuit in which the unfair labor practice in question is alleged to have occurred.
- “Fairness in Filing Act.” The bill would require the filing of unfair labor practice charges to be accompanied by “documentation of evidence” (such as an affidavit, an email, or a photograph, etc.). The bill also would require the Board to allow respondents “to inspect, copy, test, or sample” such evidence prior to a hearing. Persons filing frivolous charges could be fined up to $5,000.
- “Union Members Right to Know Act.” This bill would:
- amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to codify the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Communications Workers of America v. Beck, requiring unions to notify employees of their rights to refrain from joining a union and only pay fees that cover the union’s cost of collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment; and
- require a union to obtain affirmative authorization to spend employees’ (including union members’) union dues, fees, or assessments “not directly related to the labor organization’s collective bargaining or contract administration functions.”
- “Protection on the Picket Line Act.’’ This bill would permit employers to take disciplinary action against employees who engage in harassing or abusive conduct while participating in an activity protected by Section 7 of the NLRA (e.g., shouting racial epithets while participating in a strike).
- ‘‘Worker Privacy Act.’’ This bill would allow employees to limit the amount and type of personal contact data that employers are otherwise required to provide to labor unions prior to a representation election.
Of course, Senate Democrats are unlikely to support these measures, though the bills could serve as legislative alternatives for Republicans who might otherwise be persuaded by Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) labor reform package.
Project Firewall Update. According to media reports, the DOL’s Project Firewall has initiated nearly 200 investigations into employer misuse of the H-1B visa program. It is unclear how the skeletal staff that remained at the DOL during the forty-three-day shutdown managed to accomplish this, although other DOL immigration-related processes, such as the issuance of prevailing wage determinations and labor certifications, continued operations during some of the shutdown. Regardless, with the return of DOL employees to work and the administration’s scrutiny of the H-1B program, the Buzz expects activity at Project Firewall to tick up in the coming weeks.
Common Cents. On November 12, 2025, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia pressed its last penny. The move was a result of President Trump’s February 2025 instruction to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to stop minting the penny, the cost of which (around $.04 per penny) exceeds its actual value. Further, consumer behavior has changed, making the penny, much like the New York Giants (the Buzz’s favorite National Football League team), increasingly irrelevant over recent years.
The first penny was produced in March of 1793 in the very same U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1792. The first design of the penny featured a woman in profile with flowing hair, with the word “Liberty” emblazoned above her. President Abraham Lincoln’s image first appeared on the penny in 1909, on the 100-year anniversary of his birth. He was the first U.S. president to appear on a coin.
While the Mint will no longer produce new pennies, the penny remains legal tender. The U.S. Constitution empowers Congress to “coin money,” so only Congress can eliminate coins from circulation. For example, in 1930, Congress abolished the $2.50 gold coin.