WIC Rule Reinstates Formula Bidding; States Must Comply

2025-12-17

Midnight Ledger, Morning Hunger by DALL-E 3

WIC Rule Reinstates Formula Bidding; States Must Comply

Bread and Circus: The Complete Record of American Governance

Today’s newsletter covers official U.S. government happenings from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches yesterday, as well as key economic indicators. Below, you’ll find concise summaries of each document, with links to the original sources for further reading.

What Happened Yesterday:

🦅 Executive Branch: 2 documents (2 Rules)
🏛️ Legislative Branch: No activity
⚖️ Judicial Branch: No activity
📊 Economic Indicators: 2 documents (2 Bureau of Labor Statistics press releases)
Total words condensed: 5,726 into 1,218

The Big Picture

Federal agencies closed the year with targeted, operational fixes that will matter to states, providers and families. On December 17, 2025 the USDA finalized corrections to the WIC rules that reinstate three infant-formula bidding requirements (including using at least six months of recent data to set a “standard” purchase quantity and a specific method to compare price vs. rebate) and clarifies when non‑contract formula can be issued without a medical statement. Those WIC changes — aimed at how states buy formula, how shortages and recalls are handled, and what brands families can receive — take effect December 17, 2025 and require action by state WIC agencies, approved vendors and formula manufacturers. On the same day the Federal Register also published corrections to the Medicare inpatient rehabilitation payment rule (numbers to be used starting October 1, 2025), adjusting affected-facility counts to 1,170, the estimated payment impact to $335 million, and the average payment to $10,141; hospitals and billing offices must apply the corrected figures for FY 2026.

At the same time, the labor market shows moderation and unevenness that could change demand for services these rules touch. For the quarter December 2024–March 2025 businesses created a gross 7,448,000 jobs and lost 7,238,000, leaving a net gain of 210,000 jobs — gains and losses both slowed versus the prior quarter, with large firms accounting for most of the hiring. By September 2025 the national unemployment rate was 4.3% (up 0.4 percentage points year‑over‑year) and unemployment rose in 275 of 387 metropolitan areas; only 10 metros added payroll jobs. Data collection problems tied to a federal shutdown mean these figures could be revised, but as published they point to a cooling, geographically uneven job market that could affect state budgets, health and nutrition program demand, and hospital revenue streams.

Pattern to Watch

Two linked signals are emerging: agencies are issuing precise technical fixes that change how programs operate, while economic activity is cooling and uneven across places. Evidence: two Federal Register actions on December 17, 2025 (WIC procurement and Medicare payment corrections) impose concrete implementation deadlines (Dec 17, 2025 and Oct 1, 2025) and will reallocate how purchases and reimbursements happen; BLS data show a modest net job gain (+210,000 for Dec–Mar) and a higher national unemployment rate (4.3% in Sept. 2025) with most metros seeing rising joblessness. If this pattern continues, expect tighter procurement and billing practices at state and provider levels and rising pressure on local safety nets in weaker metros. Clear signals the trend is continuing would be more agency corrections or implementation directives, downward revisions to job gains or higher national unemployment, or increases in program caseloads tied to places where unemployment is rising.

🦅 Executive Branch

Federal Register

The rule fixes and clarifies parts of the WIC regulations (7 CFR part 246) and takes effect on December 17, 2025; it mainly affects State agencies that run WIC, stores that are WIC vendors, companies that make infant formula, and the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Key changes put back three bidding rules for infant formula that say how States must: (1) calculate a “standard” number of cans or units to bid on using at least 6 months of recent data, (2) compare bids by multiplying that standard amount by the price or rebate to find the lowest total monthly net price or highest rebate, and (3) allow using “highest rebate” only if weighted average retail prices for brands in the State vary by 5% or less; the rule also says non-contract brand formula can be given without medical papers except for people on Food Package III. The rule also fixes wording like spelling out “FDA,” defines what a “supply chain disruption” means (a shortage the Secretary declares), and corrects terms so the rules about benefit transactions, recalls, emergency contacts, and communications are clearer. This matters because it changes how States buy formula, how recalls and shortages are handled, and how families may get the foods and formulas they need through WIC. Read full document →
This document fixes numbers in the Medicare payment rule for inpatient rehabilitation hospitals for Federal Fiscal Year 2026 (the rule that decides how much Medicare pays these hospitals). The corrections change a few figures—most notably the number of affected facilities from 1,169 to 1,170, the total estimated payment impact from $340 million to $335 million, and an average payment figure from $10,062 to $10,141—and update the outlier payment threshold after adding 236 claims from one provider. Inpatient rehabilitation facilities (and the people who run their billing and Medicare payments) must use the corrected amounts starting October 1, 2025; the correction was officially issued on December 17, 2025. This matters because Medicare pays hospitals based on these rules, so the corrected numbers can affect hospital budgets, the services they offer, and care for Medicare patients. Read full document →

🏛️ Legislative Branch

No activity today.

⚖️ Judicial Branch

No activity today.

📊 Economic Indicators

Bureau of Labor Statistics

From December 2024 to March 2025, businesses added 7,448,000 jobs (called gross job gains — jobs from new or expanding workplaces), which was 354,000 fewer than the prior quarter, and they lost 7,238,000 jobs (called gross job losses — jobs from closings or cutbacks), which was 258,000 fewer than the prior quarter; that left a net increase of 210,000 jobs for the quarter. As shares of private employment, gains were 5.6% (down from 5.9%) and losses were 5.4% (down from 5.7%), showing hiring and separations both slowed but hiring still slightly outpaced losses. Most of the new jobs came from large firms (250+ workers added 267,000), small firms (1–49 workers) added 88,000, while mid-sized firms (50–249) lost 22,000; service industries added 169,000 jobs and goods-making industries added 41,000. This matters because a net gain of 210,000 jobs means more people found work overall, and the pattern (big firms and services doing most hiring) affects where job opportunities are likely to be found in local communities. Read full document →
In September 2025 the national jobless rate was 4.3%, up from 3.9% a year earlier (a 0.4 percentage-point rise), and unemployment went up in 275 of 387 metro areas, fell in 83, and stayed the same in 29; 45 metros had rates under 3.0% and 8 had rates at or above 8.0%. The lowest metro rate was Sioux Falls at 1.8% and the highest was El Centro at 21.5%; the biggest metro rate increase was Brownsville-Harlingen (+2.2 percentage points) and the biggest decreases were Kahului-Wailuku and Kokomo (both −1.5 points). Measured by jobs on payrolls, nonfarm employment rose in only 10 metros and was essentially unchanged in 377; the largest job gains were New York (+85,200 jobs), Philadelphia (+44,100), and Chicago (+40,900), while the biggest percent gains were Rochester, MN (+7.0%), Myrtle Beach (+4.4%), and Fayetteville, AR (+3.3%). These numbers show the job market is uneven—more places saw rising unemployment than falling, and most metros did not add payroll jobs—so finding work or steady hours may be harder in many communities. The data were delayed and partly affected by a federal shutdown (the establishment survey had an 80.2% collection rate and October household data were not collected), so some numbers may be revised later. Read full document →

Sources Covered Today

All U.S. Government Activity Yesterday:

Presidential actions issued: 0
Regulations: 2
Bills presented to president: 0
Bills that became law: 0
Supreme Court opinions issued: 0
Supreme Court oral arguments: 0

This is your daily record of history unfolding — no spin, just facts. For 342,983,452 people in the United States, this was yesterday.

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