The 117th Congress finishes with a flourish

In the just-concluded Lame Duck session, Congress finally passed the fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget, which ensured the federal government would be fully funded through September 2023. Congress also added increased protections for pregnant and nursing workers. The confirmation of nominees for agencies was mixed, but the pace of judicial confirmations by the Senate was strong.

FY2023 federal government budget funded
The 117th Congress passed, and President Joe Biden signed, the $1.7 trillion FY2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act that funds the federal government’s budget for FY2023 (until October 2023). In addition, the bill added significant but long-delayed protections for women, particularly pregnant women and nursing mothers. The protections are in addition to the previous legislation that banned the use of predispute nondisclosure agreements and mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment and sexual assault.

FY2023 budgets for workforce agencies
The Act will provide the federal workforce agencies with modest increases in their current budgets as follows: