Washington Report (August 2025)

Members of Congress have left town for the month of August after an action packed first seven months of the 119^th Congress. When they return to town September 2, they will be facing an immediate deadline to fund the government past September 30. That is when the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires. While both chambers have moved on some appropriations measures, the likelihood of acting on all 12 appropriations bills before the end of September is near zero. That means another CR will be required. At this writing, odds of a government shutdown appear high related to partisan divide over a recent Democrat-opposed “rescissions” package that was enacted that claws back about $9 billion in already appropriated funds. This action followed closely on the heels of the budget reconciliation bill that was also passed despite unified Democrat opposition. A government funding CR will require 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, meaning a handful of Senate Democrats will have to vote for it. Given that Minority Leader Schumer is still taking heat from his caucus for agreeing to the last CR in March and averting a shutdown, the table appears set for a government funding lapse of some duration.

Assuming that a CR comes together at some point, the measure may include an extension of certain Farm Bill programs. While the budget reconciliation bill that was signed into law July 4 addresses major parts of the Farm Bill in areas such as commodity support, crop insurance, conservation and food assistance, it did not include the programs we care about. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) has signaled his desire to move a “skinny” Farm Bill out of his committee that would reauthorize these remaining programs in September. The skinny bill would include the Community Wood and Wood Innovation Grant programs, the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, and workforce provisions to help the forestry and forest products sectors.

Wood Markets/Mass Timber

In late July, Senators Jim Justice (R-WV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Forest Bioeconomy Act. This bipartisan legislation directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with the Department of Energy (DOE), to expand research on the uses of low value commercial timber to support new wood products markets, sustain the wood products manufacturing sector and explore the viability/scalability of using wood and biomass as a feedstock for sustainable fuel.

A centerpiece of the bill would create a dedicated Office of Technology Transfer at the Forest Service to expand its commercialization of research findings and support the development of products using Forest Service research. The legislation also establishes a mass timber science and education program under the Forest Service. The program would be specifically targeted at responding to the needs of architects, real estate developers and the forest products industry. The program would, for example, connect researchers with private industry to make improvements in mass timber construction techniques for improved wildfire performance, structural stability and energy use. This research would complement the existing Wood Innovations Grant (WIG) program.

A press release announcing the bill’s introduction may be found here.

Trade

At 12:01 on August 7, new tariffs were imposed on about 90 countries ranging in rates from 10 to 50 percent. Products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea will be taxed at 15 percent, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh will be taxed at 20 percent. A special tariff rate of 50 percent will be imposed on India in about 3 weeks as punishment for India’s procurement of oil from Russia. The overall U.S. tariff rate is at its highest in almost a century.

Regarding trade with China, last Monday the President signed an executive order extending the tariff regime on China for another 90 days. The existing 90-day tariff truce was scheduled to expire the following day. That expiration date is now November 10. The EO heads off escalation of tariffs—now capped at 30 percent on Chinese imports and 10 percent on US goods—in an apparent effort to prevent economic disruption as we enter the critical holiday trading season.

Without the extension, US duties on Chinese goods could have jumped to 145 percent, while China’s retaliatory tariffs might have risen to 125 percent, effectively approaching a trade embargo.

The EO may be found here.

Sectors across the economy have been raising with the Administration the issue of manufacturing component parts that cannot be sourced within the U.S and whether tariff exemptions in these instances would be considered. Officials appear to understand that this is a legitimate claim and that supply chains are global and not confined to the U.S. However, no clear commitments on a tariff exemption process have been made. 

Department of Agriculture Reorganization Plan

On July 24, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled a long-awaited reorganization plan for her department. The memo  View the Secretary Memorandum indicates that more than half of the 4,600 employees in the Washington, D.C. area will be moved out of the region and into one of 5 hubs around the country—Raleigh, NC; Kansas City, MO; Indianapolis, IN; Fort Collins, CO and Salt Lake City, UT. In addition, the Department will hold on to the Whitten Building where the Secretary’s office is located and the Yates Building where the Forest Service is housed but will vacate the sizable South building along Independence Avenue across from the Whitten Building. Notably, the 9 Forest Service regional offices will be phased out over the next year.

Greenhouse Gas Regulation
 
Last month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled his Agency’s proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. This was a landmark rulemaking during the Obama Administration that requires the Environmental Protection Agency to take action under the Clean Air Act to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and four other air pollutants from vehicles, power plants, and other industries. The EPA’s Endangerment Finding followed the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, holding that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act.
 
The Endangerment Finding provided the basis for a panoply of greenhouse gas emissions regulations, including the electric vehicle mandate and emissions regulations for coal-fired and natural gas-fueled power plants.

Workforce

In late July before Congress left town for the August recess, Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-03) and David Rouzer (R-NC-07) introduced the Jobs in the Woods Act (H.R. 4575) to address critical workforce shortages in the forestry and forest products sector and invest in the next generation of professionals in this value chain. Original House Cosponsors include Reps. Pete Stauber (R-MN-08), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15).

The bill would authorize grants of between $500,000 and $2 million to stand up workforce  training modules tailored specifically for the forestry and wood products manufacturing sectors. Grants would be available to nonprofit organizations, state agencies and colleges. It is based on a successful program run by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and its goal is to promote similar programs in regions across the country.  

Senate companion legislation (S. 1336) was introduced in April 2025 by Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Jim Risch (R-ID), making this measure not only bipartisan, but bicameral.