The federal government reopened on October 17 after being closed for 16 days while Congress struggled to reach agreement on stop gap funding and avert defaulting on the United States debt. If the debt ceiling had not been addressed by October 17, the country would have defaulted on its debts, risking a downgrade in its credit rating. H.R. 2775, the Continuing Appropriations Act, passed both the Senate and House on October 16 and was signed by President Barack Obama late that evening. The Office of Personnel Management then notified all furloughed federal employees that they were to report to work on October 17. With 96% of its workforce furloughed, HUD had the smallest percentage of its employees considered “essential” of all cabinet agencies. The bill suspends the debt limit until February 7 and also allows the Administration to take extraordinary measures to extend the debt ceiling beyond that date, should Congress not agree to an extension. This provision will avert future last minute negotiations that endanger the nation’s credit rating. H.R. 2775 provides funding at post-sequester FY13 levels through January 15. This level of funding is $986 billion, well below the $1.058 trillion level sought by Senate Democrats who proposed canceling sequestration in its FY14 budget resolution. The House budget resolution provides only $967 billion for FY14 appropriations. The policy riders to defund or delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that some Republicans demanded as a condition of raising the debt limit and providing funding for federal agencies were not included in the final legislation. However, a provision that would require income verification for ACA subsidy recipients was added. The final deal was based on negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that began the weekend of October 12. After the two Senators neared agreement early in the week of October 14, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) asserted that the House should lead these negotiations. The Senators stepped back for a 24-hour period while the House tried and failed, yet again, to reach a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government. With an October 17 deadline to raise the federal debt limit, the Senate leaders resumed negotiations and produced compromise legislation that passed the Senate by a vote of 81 to 18 and the House by a vote of 285 to 144. All Democrats in the Senate and House voted in favor of the bill, joined by a considerable number of Republicans. Senate Leadership originally planned to include a provision in the legislation that would have mandated that the House and Senate Committees on the Budget appoint conferees to negotiate a final FY14 budget level and produce a conference report by December 13. Senate leadership has called on the House repeatedly to appoint conferees, but the House has been unwilling to take this step. The proposed provision mandating conferee appointment was reportedly stripped from the legislation to avoid delaying passage because it would have been subject to a point of order. However, House and Senate leaders agreed to appoint conferees without a legal mandate and proceeded to do so on October 17. House appointees include House Committee on the Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WO) and Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), as well as other Budget Committee members Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK), Tom Price (R-GA), Diane Black (R-TN), James Clyburn (D-SC), and Nita Lowey (D-NY). The Senate appointed all members of the committee on the Budget as conferees. The Senate Budget Committee is chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) with Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as ranking member.The budget committee conference will tackle the overall federal spending level for FY14, which hinges on the future of sequestration. Senate Democrats propose canceling sequestration, thereby increasing the level of funding that appropriators can spend in FY14 to $1.058 trillion. Their Republican counterparts have objected to this strategy and spending level. While House Republicans have argued for a lower spending level of $967 billion, when faced with low program funding levels in their FY14 THUD bill, there were not enough Republican votes to pass the bill. Even though House Republicans are dissatisfied with what the $967 billion level provides for individual agencies, it is unclear whether budget committee conferees will be able to reach agreement on a final FY14 spending level. FY14 spending levels for HUD and USDA Rural Housing programs depend on the outcome of these negotiations. The House and Senate FY14 THUD bills have vastly different program funding levels. Without a budget agreement, the country could find itself facing a federal government shutdown again in mid-January. The other unpleasant scenario is a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) keeping all FY14 funding at FY13 levels.View the Continuing Appropriations Act at: http://bit.ly/15LSHQ9 View NLIHC’s budget chart: http://bit.ly/1al9ivw