Congress returned from recess this week with no vote on DHS funding, the Iran ceasefire expires in four days, and the surface transportation reauthorization finally has a markup date. Here is what matters.
DHS Shutdown and FEMA
The shutdown is in its third month. The House reconvened April 14; the Senate returned April 13. Neither chamber has voted on the bipartisan Senate bill that funds DHS (excluding ICE and CBP). Johnson will not bring it to the House floor until the Senate shows "concrete progress" on reconciliation for ICE and CBP.
Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham is expected to skip a committee vote on the reconciliation budget resolution entirely and bring it straight to the Senate floor as early as the week of April 20. Thune called it an "anorexic" measure: narrowly focused on ICE and CBP salaries, overtime, and operational accounts. Trump endorsed the approach on April 1 and set a June 1 deadline for passage.
On April 10, Secretary Mullin ordered all furloughed DHS employees back to work, citing OBBBA reconciliation funds. Trump signed executive orders on March 27 (TSA) and April 3 (all DHS) directing the use of those funds as payroll. The mechanism remains legally untested. Mullin's memo stated: "Should the department exhaust currently available funds before an FY 2026 appropriation is enacted, you will receive a new notification of your work status."
TSA remains operationally degraded. Over 500 officers have quit. Callout rates peaked above 40% at major hubs. Acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress replacements cannot be trained before the FIFA World Cup (June 11). ICE agents remain deployed at 14 airports for document checks.
FEMA: the $1 billion BRIC NOFO (FY24 and FY25 combined) remains open with a July 23 application deadline. Project cap reduced to $20 million. $81 million earmarked for building code adoption. The DRF remains constrained below $5 billion. Mullin rescinded Noem's $100,000 expenditure approval policy on April 2, clearing a $2.2 billion backlog in recovery and mitigation funds.
Iran Ceasefire and Energy Markets
The two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran expires April 21 (Tuesday). Regional officials told the Associated Press that both sides have given an "in principle agreement" to extend it, but no formal deal exists. The White House said there is "no deal in place" as of April 15. Three sticking points remain: Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages.
The Strait remains effectively closed. Iran is charging tolls above $1 million per vessel and limiting transit to dry cargo only. No oil tankers have transited freely since the ceasefire began. U.S. CENTCOM confirmed no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours of the ceasefire; the daily average during the war was nine ships. The EIA raised its 2026 Brent forecast to $96 per barrel (up from $79) and estimates outages peaked at 9.1 million barrels per day in April.
On April 16, Trump brokered a separate 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, effective at 5 p.m. ET. This removes a major obstacle to extending the Iran deal; Tehran had insisted any U.S. ceasefire cover Lebanon. The Lebanese military reported Israeli violations within hours of the truce. Hezbollah has not formally accepted the deal. Brent closed at $99.39 on April 16; WTI at $94.69.
Build America Bureau and USDOT
House Transportation Chair Sam Graves is targeting April 29 for the surface transportation reauthorization markup. He told Politico the topline is being negotiated between $500 billion and $550 billion for a five-year authorization. This replaces IIJA, which expires September 30. A separate Politico report confirmed the markup was delayed from April 14.
Gateway construction has resumed. As of April 13, crews are preparing to lower tunnel boring machines into position on the New Jersey side. The second TBM shipped from Germany with components arriving in March. GDC has not awarded the Manhattan Tunnel contract or the final TBM boring contract, citing the need for access to the full $15 billion federal commitment. The project operates on a two-to-three-month financial runway.
The TIFIA/RRIF pipeline stands at approximately $40.5 billion per the April 2026 Build America Bureau report. Brightline West's $6 billion RRIF loan remains unapproved.
USDA and Rural Development
REAP grants remain frozen indefinitely. USDA is rewriting 7 CFR 4280 Subpart B to comply with EO 14315. All applicants without a fully executed Financial Assistance Agreement must reapply. No timeline provided. REAP guaranteed loans continue to be accepted.
The Farm Bill (H.R. 7567) cleared the House Agriculture Committee 34-17 on March 5 but missed its pre-Easter floor vote. No floor date scheduled. Boozman has not released Senate text. The September 30 extension of the 2018 Farm Bill is the hard deadline, the same expiration date as IIJA.
Critics are calling for elimination of USDA's Rural Utilities Service broadband programs, citing duplication with NTIA's BEAD program. Citizens Against Government Waste published a report April 6 targeting RUS as redundant.
P3 and Infrastructure Finance
The private activity bond federal cap remains at $0. The Reason Foundation published a call on April 13 to remove the $30 billion cap entirely rather than negotiate a new number, arguing PABs are no longer experimental. The House Transportation Committee markup on April 29 is the next opportunity.
I-285 East ($7.6 billion, $2.5 billion TIFIA, $1.1 billion PAB request) is in the RFP phase. I-77 South Charlotte ($3.2 billion) RFP issued March 13. PennDOT continues evaluating Cintra's $5 billion I-76 proposal. I-24 Southeast and Brightline West PAB requests remain blocked.
Construction tariffs: steel, aluminum, and copper at 50%. Derivatives at 25%. Input prices surging at a 12.6% annualized rate. Aluminum mill shapes up 33% year over year. ENR Building Cost Index up 4.2% year over year. The April 2 tariff modification exempts products with less than 15% metal content but maintains the full 50% duty on core metal imports.
DOE and Energy Infrastructure
Constellation filed at FERC on April 2 to transfer capacity injection rights from Eddystone to Crane Clean Energy Center. PJM warned interconnection could slip to 2031. The FERC filing requests tariff waivers to remove Eddystone from capacity resource status and transfer rights to Crane, maintaining the 2027 restart timeline. Crane holds a $1 billion DOE loan and a Microsoft PPA.
Palisades: Holtec still cannot locate certified material test reports for pressurizer and safety nozzle welds. The NRC's review continues with no public decision. If relief is denied, replacing the reactor pressure vessel head could cost $750 million and delay the restart by years. The $1.52 billion DOE loan remains in place. Holtec submitted a construction permit application for two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site; NRC accepted it for review in February.
SPARK full applications are due May 20. Three topic areas: Grid Resilience ($427 million), Smart Grid ($614 million), Grid Innovation ($862 million). Concept papers were due April 2.
EDF retains $289 billion in authority under Director Greg Beard. DOE has de-obligated $30 billion in Biden-era loans and is revising another $53 billion, replacing $9.5 billion in wind and solar with gas and nuclear investments. Southern Company's $26.5 billion loan package remains the benchmark.
What This Means For Federal Borrowers And Contractors
- The DHS shutdown will not end this week. The earliest path to reopening requires Graham's budget resolution to pass the Senate floor (week of April 20), then the House to vote on the bipartisan DHS bill. Even on an accelerated timeline, DHS stays shuttered through at least early May. Mullin's recall of furloughed employees on OBBBA funds buys time but creates a new cliff: when the reconciliation money runs out, every DHS employee gets another furlough notice. Bridge financing against federal receivables remains the only reliable liquidity path for DHS contractors.
- The Iran ceasefire expires Tuesday with no extension deal signed. The Lebanon truce is a positive signal, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to oil tankers. Brent is trading near $100; the EIA's full-year forecast is $96. Energy-intensive infrastructure projects should assume elevated input costs through 2026 and build tariff escalation clauses into every contract.
- April 29 is the most important date on the infrastructure calendar. Graves' markup of the surface transportation reauthorization will set the topline ($500 to $550 billion), determine the PAB cap, and define the TIFIA/RRIF authorization for the next five years. Every P3 developer, transit authority, and freight rail borrower in the country is waiting on this bill. ABC provides bridge capital to borrowers positioning for financial close once the reauthorization passes.
- Three September 30 cliffs converge with zero legislative momentum. IIJA expires. The 2018 Farm Bill extension expires. BRIC NOFO funding (IIJA-sourced) ends. Borrowers relying on any of these programs should restructure capital stacks now. Waiting until summer to address a September cliff is how projects lose a full fiscal year.
- The DOE lending thesis is accelerating. EDF has $289 billion in authority and is actively restructuring its portfolio toward gas and nuclear. Constellation's FERC filing to bypass PJM delays, Holtec's NRC gamble, Southern Company's $26.5 billion package, and the $1.9 billion SPARK program all represent active deal flow. ABC provides bridge financing to energy developers positioning for DOE credit commitments.
- ---
- American Bridge Capital provides bridge financing to contractors, municipalities, and private nonprofits navigating federal funding delays. Whether it is FEMA Public Assistance, CDBG-DR, RRIF, TIFIA, USDA programs, or other federally backed funding, we keep capital moving when Washington cannot.
- +1 (800) 459-FUND (3863) info@americanbridgecapital.com AmericanBridgeCapital.com
- #Infrastructure #FederalFunding #FEMA #DHS #GovernmentShutdown #TSA #BridgeFinancing #P3 #PublicPrivatePartnership #TIFIA #RRIF #DOE #NuclearEnergy #GridModernization #FarmBill #USDA #IIJA #ProjectFinance #InfrastructureFinance #DisasterRecovery