Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026

US CONGRESS H.R. 5371 A funding measure that formally ended the federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025, after Congress failed to pass the annual FY2026 appropriations bills on time. The law provides continuing appropriations (temporary funding) for most federal agencies at FY2025 levels through January 30, 2026, or until the relevant full-year appropriations are enacted. In addition to this temporary funding, the bill includes three full FY2026 appropriations bills that permanently fund agriculture programs, the Food and Drug Administration, military construction and family housing, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Congress, and several related agencies through the end of FY2026. The act also ensures that all federal employees receive back pay for the period they were unpaid during the shutdown. 

The bill temporarily prohibits federal agencies from conducting reductions in force (RIFs) through January 30, 2026, and it nullifies any RIFs carried out between October 1, 2025, and the law’s enactment. It also extends several federal programs and authorities that were set to expire, including those related to public health, Medicare, Medicaid, agriculture, cybersecurity, FDA user fees, veterans’ benefits, drone threat mitigation, and the Defense Production Act of 1950. Overall, the law stabilizes federal operations, restores employee pay, and extends key programs while buying Congress additional time to complete the remaining FY2026 appropriations.

Northwest Florida May Tornadoes

FL GOVERNOR E.O. 25-230 extends an existing state of emergency originally declared for Holmes County after severe storms and tornadoes struck the Florida Panhandle on May 10, 2025. Governor DeSantis first issued Executive Order 25-101 on May 11, 2025 in response to multiple rounds of rain, thunderstorms, and tornado activity. That order had already been extended once by Executive Order 25-181, but was set to expire on November 7, 2025. Because the affected area is still recovering from the significant damage caused by the severe weather, the Governor determined that continued state assistance remains necessary. Executive Order 25-230 renews the state of emergency—and all provisions of EO 25-101—for an additional 60 days from its issuance date. The order also formally ratifies and reaffirms the previous emergency orders related to this event. It takes effect immediately upon being signed on November 7, 2025 in Tallahassee.

Extensions of Florida’s Hurricane Recovery Emergencies

FL GOVERNOR E.O. 25‑232 & 25-231 to extend the state of emergency originally declared under Executive Order 24‑156 due to the storm which began as “Invest 97L,” later classified as Tropical Cyclone Four and ultimately as Hurricane Debby. That original declaration covered significant flooding, river and coastal flooding, erosion and gusty winds across Florida counties beginning August 1, 2024. According to the order, recovery from Hurricane Debby continues, and since the previous order was set to expire on November 8, 2025, the Governor renewed the emergency and all its provisions for 60 days (from November 7, 2025). The renewal reaffirmed the original order as amended and officially took effect immediately.

Similarly, the Governor issued Executive Order 25‑231 as an extension of Executive Order 24‑208, which was initially issued on September 23, 2024, in response to Hurricane Helene (formerly “Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine”). That storm led to emergency declarations for 41 counties, later expanded to 61 counties, and included provisions addressing coastal flooding, storm surge, heavy rainfall and strong winds, as well as earlier commerce disruptions tied to a strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association. The extension renews that state of emergency for another 60 days, effective immediately, but explicitly does not extend the earlier strike-related amendment (since that issue is resolved).

Josie Tomkow Runs for FL SD14

FL GOVERNOR E.O. 25-233 is Governor Ron DeSantis’s formal directive to hold a special election to fill the now-vacant Florida House District 51 seat after Representative Josie Tomkow resigned on November 7, 2025. Tomkow, a Republican from Polk City, stepped down so she can run in a special election for Florida Senate District 14, a seat that opened after Senator Jay Collins was appointed Lieutenant Governor earlier in 2025. Under Florida law, when a state House seat becomes vacant, the Governor must call a special election and set the dates in consultation with the Secretary of State. The order schedules a Special Primary Election for January 13, 2026, followed—if needed—by a Special General Election on March 24, 2026, where voters in HD 51 (part of Polk County) will choose Tomkow’s replacement.

Death-Row Inmate Loses Final Challenge For Life

FL SUPREME COURT SC2025-1722 & SC2025-1723 The Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in Randolph v. State and Randolph v. Secretary, DOC concerns 63-year-old death-row inmate Richard Barry Randolph, who was sentenced to death for the 1988 robbery, rape, and murder of his former manager, Minnie Ruth McCollum, at a convenience store in Palatka. After Governor Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant scheduling Randolph’s execution for November 20, 2025, Randolph filed a fourth round of postconviction challenges and a separate habeas corpus petition, asking the Court to halt the execution and overturn his conviction and sentence; the Court rejected all of his requests and let the execution go forward. One of Randolph’s main arguments was that Florida’s three-drug lethal injection protocol would cause him extreme suffering because he has lupus, an autoimmune disease; the Court held this claim was both too late (he has known about his lupus since 1990 and the current protocol has been in place since 2017) and legally defective because he did not identify a realistic alternative execution method that would significantly reduce the risk of pain, as required by modern death-penalty case law. He also argued that the short 30-day warrant period and the trial court’s refusal to give him broad access to public records made it impossible to fully investigate and present new claims, but the Court said its recent decisions in other death-warrant cases already rejected those due-process arguments and that his records requests were overly broad, fishing expeditions, or sought confidential materials.

Randolph further claimed that Florida’s clemency process was unconstitutional because he was not allowed to rebut factual findings against him and was not given a new clemency review even though many years had passed since the last one; the Court again pointed to prior precedent saying death-sentenced prisoners do not have a right to that kind of “second look” or to cross-examine clemency information. In his habeas petition, he invoked the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McCoy v. Louisiana, arguing his trial lawyer conceded some guilt without getting his explicit permission, but the Florida Supreme Court held that a McCoy violation requires the defendant to clearly object to such a concession—which Randolph admits he never did—and, in any event, he raised this theory years too late. Stepping back, the opinion fits into a broader pattern in 2024–2025 in which the Florida Supreme Court has consistently denied last-minute challenges to executions and upheld the state’s lethal-injection system and post-warrant procedures, during a period when Florida is carrying out executions at a record pace under Governor DeSantis.