Negotiated Rulemaking Slowly Moves Forward Election Results Favor the Democrats Shutdown Enters Uncharted Territory
Overview
Welcome to day thirty-five of the current government shutdown, now officially the longest shuttering of our nation’s government in history. As of this morning, rumors persist that the GOP and Democratic leadership and other groups of Senators and Representatives are all trying to come up with a solution to reopen the federal government. Meanwhile, today we also share updates on the election results from yesterday and also the current update on the 2025 Federal Negotiated Rulemaking – RISE Committee.
Election Day 2025 Results
All the election races which CSPEN was monitoring last night were won by the Democratic nominee. In both the New Jersey and the Virginia Gubernatorial races, the Democrat won the race for open seats vacated due to term limits by their Democratic (NJ) and Republican (VA) predecessors.
House District 18 of Texas
Of a field of more than a dozen candidates, and a half dozen of actual contenders, none of the individuals in the race achieved the necessary majority of votes to become the new Representative. With no candidate obtaining fifty percent of the vote, the election will now proceed to a runoff between Acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards.
In yesterday’s voting Mr. Menefee led the voting with 21,979 votes (28.9%), Ms. Edwards received 19,440 votes (25.6%), with a group of fourteen others ranged from 19.1% of the vote to 0.2% or the vote.
No date for the runoff election has been publicized based upon yesterday’s results and the need for a runoff.
New Jersey
Candidate Mikie Sherril (D) defeated Jace Clatterelli (R) by over 400,000 votes (57% vs. 43%). Governor-elect Sherril replaces Governor Phil Murphy (D).
Virginia
Candidate Abigail Spanberger (D) defeated Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by over 400,000 votes (57% vs. 43%). Governor=elect Spanberger will replace Governor Glenn Youngkin (R).
RISE Committee Negotiated Rulemaking Update
Yesterday’s negotiations moved ahead at a slow but deliberate pace as the Department and Non-Federal negotiators attempted to address key discussion drafts and specific areas contained within them where additional deliberations are required to clear up confusion, address the adoption or omission of proposals offered by Non-Federal negotiators, and areas where dissent has been noted based upon the most recent drafts.
Yesterday’s negotiations spent considerable time discussing the annual and aggregate loan limit thresholds, the application of the required less than full-time proration of loans, and other key issues related to the broad transition of the existing student loan repayment framework to the new two-repayment-options mandated by the OB3 statute. Many nuanced discussions took place throughout the day, with still many more to follow, and the Committee has yet to fully address and consider key alternative proposals put forth by the Non-Federal negotiators. The Department agreed to take back the discussions from the morning and afternoon and attempt to provide any revisions as quickly as possible.
Tomorrow will be the first session that one of the most contentious issues, the definitions and more specifically the definition of professional programs, will be discussed.
We also anticipate further discussion on a broad proposal offered by the student loan community to be a significant portion of the dialogue – as it was touched upon in portions of Tuesday’s discussions at/when appropriate.
What’s Next
We will continue to provide updates on the RISE Committee negotiations and update you on any significant movement regarding the shutdown and more.
