Shutdown Watch Judiciary furloughs and case delays escalate; CBO-scale losses mount.

Federal courts began furloughs and are triaging essential matters; criminal and complex civil dockets face delays. Macroeconomic loss estimates continue to grow with some impacts not recoverable.

As of Oct 17–Nov 3 updates.

Defense & Procurement Senate passes FY26 NDAA; House path contingent on shutdown mechanics.

Track House timing and expected conference posture—procurement, cyber, and industrial base provisions remain live.

Hearings & meetings (two-week lens)

Use the combined House/Senate schedules to plan outreach and testimony prep.

NDAA text & highlights

Review Senate text and note provisions likely to move in conference once the House acts.

Read bill text

Federal Register — Today & Public Inspection

Even during limited operations, the daily issue and PI list continue; GovInfo hosts the official edition.

Antitrust & consumer protection: what’s moving

• HSR filings continue uninterrupted; expect slower reviews in some matters.
• FTC seeking rollback of anticompetitive regulations under an EO mandate.
• Negative Option (click-to-cancel) compliance reminders for subscription programs.

Shutdown impact on litigation & indigent defense

AOUSC funding constraints have forced furloughs and pauses, with some capital cases halted and CJA panel payments delayed—driving capacity challenges across federal defense.

BigLaw: policy practices & talent flows

Government-relations teams continue to scale; watch team acquisitions and DC buildouts as clients navigate shutdown-era risk and 2026 rulemaking calendars.

Largest team hires in 2025

Courts resisting broad pauses

Multiple judges are denying blanket delay requests in high-profile policy cases, maintaining schedules where feasible despite agency furloughs.

Read update

2025–26 Term: key federal power & trade cases

Follow docket items affecting executive authority, trade/tariff powers, and administrative law constraints post-Chevron.

California: FAIR Plan stabilization enacted

Bipartisan reforms to the insurer of last resort carry implications for carriers, reinsurers, and wildfire-risk portfolios.

Multistate: AGs press HPE–Juniper review

A coalition is pushing for a fuller public-interest review of a major tech merger with workplace infrastructure implications.

AG coalition statement

For GCs, COOs & Policy Leads

• Map active litigation and agency interactions affected by furloughs; memorialize impacts for potential claims or schedule relief.
• For subscription/recurring programs, reconfirm Negative Option controls (notice, consent, click-to-cancel, save-offer flow).
• M&A: file HSRs on time; build slack into second-requests; align PR risk with AG coalitions on platform/infra deals.

Congressional hearings & meetings

One-stop weekly listings—refresh for late-posted notices.

Federal Register (daily)

Rules, notices, proposed actions, meetings—check each morning.

Today’s edition