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Jim Flood is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office and assists health care, energy, and financial services clients with legal, legislative, and regulatory issues. He is also chair of the firm's Government Affairs Group.

A former federal prosecutor and counsel to Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Jim has more than 20 years of experience assisting clients facing issues before the White House, Congress, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other federal agencies. He also works with the firm's Healthcare Group and healthcare fraud practice team to counsel clients on issues related to Medicare, Medicaid, Part D, long-term care, health care fraud, the False Claims Act (FCA), and the anti-kickback statute.

I. Introduction

A U.S. federal government shutdown creates a number of direct and indirect consequences that impact U.S. companies, individuals and virtually every aspect of the U.S. economy.  Although the federal government has experienced previous lapses in funding that have led to shutdowns of all or part of the federal government, the current funding impasse and impending shutdown raise a number of unique and unprecedented questions for government workers, government contractors and businesses, and the public at large.

A U.S. federal government shutdown can have serious consequences because of the size of federal spending and its impact on the U.S. economy.  The U.S. government spent $6.27 trillion dollars in fiscal year 2022 which amounted to approximately 25% of total gross domestic product. The federal government funds over 2,200 federal assistance programs for the public.  There are over 2.2 million federal employees who will be directly impacted in some way by a federal government shutdown with the majority facing a furlough of an undetermined length.  There are over 11 million U.S. federal government contracts signed every year and they may be impacted by a shutdown. Finally, the federal government spends approximately $1.2 trillion dollars every year, or about 19% of all federal spending, on programs that fund or are related to the states.

The purpose of this Client Alert is to explain the consequences of a government shutdown in general, why this one may be different, and to also offer insights to the regulated industries, government contractors and others on what to expect this time around.  Our team is ready and available to help advise companies through this shutdown process.Continue Reading A Brief Primer on the Impact of a Federal Government Shutdown

On March 9, 2023, President Biden released his fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request outlining the administration’s priorities, including a nearly 10 percent increase in discretionary spending over the current enacted funding levels. The President’s budget requests a total of $6.9 trillion federal spending for FY 2024. Of this amount, $4.2 trillion would be in mandatory spending and $1.9 trillion would be in discretionary spending. Defense spending would receive an approximately 3 percent increase from FY 2023 for a total of $885 billion in discretionary spending, while non-defense spending would receive a nearly 4 percent increase from FY 2023 levels for a total of $1.02 trillion in FY 2024. The President’s budget request proposes a 7 percent increase over current non-defense spending level and tax increases among other proposed revenue raisers designed to lower the national deficit by $3 trillion over the next 10 years. 

The President’s budget request is the first step in the annual appropriations process. As the U.S. Congress holds the power of the purse, the next step is for Congress to pass a budget resolution, which provides a blueprint for all budget-related legislation, including the topline numbers governing discretionary spending for the upcoming fiscal year. The Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate will spend the next couple of months holding hearings on the budget request in preparation of their work on appropriations bills for government departments and agencies. The current divided government – with Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate, but with Republicans in the majority in the House of Representatives – and escalating partisan rhetoric on the debt ceiling raises questions about whether the political parties can navigate their way to an agreement before the current funding law expires on September 30. One thing is clear, the President’s budget priorities stand in stark contrast with the emerging House Republican agenda, and the final FY 2024 appropriations law will vary significantly from President Biden’s request.

The following summary, based on a review of the budget request and accompanying Fact Sheet and Analytical Perspectives, provides highlights from each section of the President’s budget proposal. Please reach out to the Crowell Government Affairs Group for more detail in any given area. Continue Reading President Biden Outlines White House Priorities in FY 2024 Budget Request

President Biden will soon sign into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides $750 billion in funding and major federal policy changes impacting the U.S. energy, environment, healthcare and tax sectors. On August 7, 2022, the IRA passed the U.S. Senate by an all-Democrat 50-50 party line vote, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie and ensuring passage. On August 12, 2022, the IRA passed the U.S. House by a vote of 220 to 207. The President’s signature, will make the bill law, and allow President Biden, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to claim a major victory while making progress on a portion of the President’s Build Back Better agenda just three months before the mid-term elections on November 8, 2022.

The Crowell and Moring LLP and Crowell & Moring International (CMI) teams have put together this Client Alert with two main purposes. The first is to provide a summary of the highlights of the bill, which is included in Section I, and the second is to provide a more detailed section-by-section review of the bill, which is provided in Section II. Continue Reading President Biden To Sign New Inflation Reduction Act

On April 27, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (the “EO”) increasing the hourly minimum wage for certain federal government contractors (and subcontractors) to $15.00 per hour ($10.50 per hour for tipped workers), beginning January 30, 2022. Beginning in January 2023, the applicable minimum wage rate will be adjusted annually based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Continue Reading President Biden Signs Executive Order Mandating $15 Minimum Wage for Certain Employees on Certain Federal Contracts

At an event in Pittsburgh, PA, yesterday, President Biden unveiled his plans for creating jobs and growing the economy by investing more than $2 trillion in infrastructure, improving access to childcare and educational opportunities, and reforming the corporate tax system. Dubbed the American Jobs Plan, the proposal fulfills a number of campaign promises and incorporates many of the legislative proposals for transforming the power generation and transportation sectors, improving racial equity and economic opportunity for all Americans, and strengthening the country’s labor force and communities that have passed the Democratic led House of Representatives over the past two years.
Continue Reading Biden First 100 Days Update: The Biden Infrastructure and Jobs Plan: Highlights of $2 Trillion Proposal That Would Remake Transportation and Energy Sectors, Address Inequality, and Increase Taxes on Corporations

Rebuilding America’s aging and technologically challenged infrastructure is increasingly seen as an imperative. The need to invest in and mobilize resources for critical infrastructure projects has become an ever greater priority given the role project development can play in lifting the U.S. economy in dire times.

Congress and the Administration are actively exploring various forms