Continuing Resolutions

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  A type of joint resolution used to provide temporary funding for federal agencies when regular appropriations bills are not enacted.

• Legal Form

  Joint Resolution

• Average Duration

  118 days based on data from the last 28 fiscal years.

• Fiscal Year Start

  October 1

• Common Abbreviation

  CR

• Typical Funding Level

  Levels equivalent to the previous fiscal year's appropriations, sometimes adjusted through anomalies.

Timeline

• The 6th Continuing Resolution for FY2011 (Pub.L. 112-6) is passed, cutting $6 billion from 2010 spending levels. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2011-03-16

• The 7th Continuing Resolution for FY2011 (Pub.L. 112-8) is passed, providing funding through April 15, 2011, following a deal to avoid a government shutdown. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2011-04-09

• Speaker Kevin McCarthy is ousted from his position; his reliance on continuing resolutions to fund the government was a primary grievance cited by the Republican members who led the move. (Source: Document 0c408fae-3516-4cfd-b67f-0e6ab624be7d)

  2023-10-03

Continuing resolution

In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year, which, for the federal government, runs from October 1 to September 30. When Congress and the president fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a continuing resolution can be passed instead. A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year's funding. The funding extends until a specific date or regular appropriations bills are passed, whichever comes first. There can be some changes to some of the accounts in a continuing resolution. The continuing resolution takes the form of a joint resolution, and may provide bridging funding for existing federal programs at current, reduced, or expanded levels.

Web Search Results

• Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Practices

  , which are typically specified with reference to the prior or current fiscal year's appropriations acts. Second, CRs provide budget authority for a specified _duration_ of time. This duration may be as short as a single day or as long as the remainder of the fiscal year. Third, in recent practice, CRs have typically provided funds based on an overall _funding rate_ rather than in specified amounts. Fourth, the use of budget authority provided in the CR is typically prohibited for _new activities_ not funded in the previous fiscal year. Fifth, the duration and amount of funds in the CR, and purposes for which they may be used for specified activities, may be adjusted through _anomalies_. Sixth,_legislative provisions_—which create, amend, or extend other laws—have been included in some [...] , one or more continuing appropriations acts may be enacted to provide temporary funding to continue certain programs and activities until action on regular appropriations acts is completed. Such funding is provided for a specified period of time, which may be extended through the enactment of subsequent continuing appropriations. A continuing appropriations act is commonly referred to as a continuing resolution or CR because it has typically been in the form of a joint resolution rather than a bill. But there is no procedural requirement as to its form. Continuing appropriations are also occasionally provided through a bill. [...] During the past 28 fiscal years, Congress used an interim CR to provide funding for an average of almost four months (118 days) before final appropriations action was taken for the fiscal year (regardless of whether final action was enactment of all regular appropriations acts or a full-year CR). Taking into account the total duration of all interim CRs for each fiscal year, the period for which continuing appropriations were provided ranged from 21 days to 216 days. (Full-year CRs used during this period—FY2007, FY2011, FY2013, and FY2025—extend the duration to 365 days during those years.) For the other 24 fiscal years, the expiration date of the final CR has varied substantially. For 15 fiscal years since FY1997, one or more CRs were enacted to cover a period that extended into the

• What You Need to Know About Continuing Resolutions

  CRs can yield operational challenges and funding uncertainty for impacted agencies, including disruptions to financial planning, hiring staff, or beginning new projects and activities—demonstrating the difficulty of relying on CRs for federal budgeting. They can also place significant administrative burdens on federal agencies and waste taxpayer resources. Many agencies’ programs may be limited or halted altogether under a CR. For instance: [...] The Department of Commerce can delay or cancel critical field testing of modernized surveying technology, which can have negative downstream impacts on the quality of household and economic survey data that Congress, other government agencies, and the business community depend on. [...] The overall level of funding in the discretionary budget that Congress is required to pass annually (referred to as 302(a) allocations, named for the section of the 1974 Congressional Budget Act that governs the congressional budget process); The subdivision of funding into the 12 appropriations bills, such as Defense, Agriculture, or Homeland Security (called 302(b) allocations); and Policy provisions that are often included in appropriations bills and reflect non-budgetary priorities of the two parties, often referred to as policy “riders.”

• Continuing resolution - Wikipedia

  6th Continuing Resolution ("Additional Continuing Appropriations Amendments, 2011"), funding through April 8, 2011, passed on March 16, 2011. (Pub.L. 112-6) This resolution cut an additional $6 billion from 2010 spending levels. 7th Continuing Resolution ("Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Amendments, 2011"), funding through April 15, 2011, passed on April 9, 2011. (Pub.L. 112-8) This continuing resolution followed a deal on the full annual budget which was made with just hours remaining before a government shutdown. It itself contains an additional $2 billion in cuts. Democrats had previously rejected a Republican-backed resolution passed by the House before the deal, which would have funded the government for another week and cut an additional $12 billion from 2010 levels. [...] In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations "Appropriations bill (United States)") legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. [...] Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year, which, for the federal government, runs from October 1 to September 30. When Congress and the president fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a continuing resolution can be passed instead. A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year's funding.

• Appropriations and Continuing Resolutions - NAFOA

  Six Main Features of Continuing Resolutions: 1. CRs provide funding for certain activities (coverage), typically specified with reference to the prior fiscal year’s appropriations acts. 2. CRs provide budget authority for a specified duration of time (spanning a single day or the rest of the fiscal year) 3. CRs typically provide funds based on an overall funding rate rather than a specified amount 4. The use of budget authority provided in the CR has been prohibited for new activities not funded in the previous fiscal year 5. The duration and amount of funds in the CR, and for which they may be used for specified activities, may be adjusted through anomalies. 6. Legislative provisions– which create, amend, or extend other laws– have been included in some instances ## Definitions [...] ## What is a Continuing Resolution? One or more Continuing Appropriations Acts, or commonly referred to as Continuing Resolutions (CR), are enacted to provide TEMPORARY funding to continue certain programs and activities until the regular appropriations acts are completed. ### When is a Continuing Resolution Used by Congress? If Congress fails to pass Appropriations bills by the October 1 deadline → it must pass a continuing resolution (CR), a temporary funding measure that keeps the government running at current levels. Without either appropriations bills or a CR signed by the president, the government shuts down. During a shutdown, some government services pause, and federal workers may be furloughed without pay until funding is restored. [...] Sources: Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Practices | Congress.gov House Republicans Restore Order: Congress Passes Clean Funding Extension and Full-Year Appropriations Bills to Reopen Government H.R.5371 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress #### MORE ON THIS TOPIC: Policy Alert ### Senate Fails to Advance FY 2026 Funding Bill with Congress Facing January 31st Deadline Backgrounder ### What Is Budget Reconciliation? Backgrounder ### How the Federal Budget Process Works

• Continuing Resolution (CR) | www.dau.edu

  Unlike an appropriations act, a Continuing Resolution normally does not specify dollar amounts of budget authority. Rather, it permits activities to operate at, "the current rate of operations", which is usually based on the lesser of the following levels (depending on circumstances specified in the Continuing Resolution): (1) the amount the activity was appropriated in the prior year, or (2) the amount requested in the President's Budget of the Current Year, or (3) the lowest Congressional mark to date. Depending on the status of the appropriations bills and whether or not a program was zeroed out during the committee mark-ups, other spending level limits may be specified in the Continuing Resolution. However, the three previously mentioned are the most common. The interpretation of [...] ABUS 019 General Information If Congress is unable to pass one or more appropriations acts by 1 October (the beginning of the fiscal year), it must provide Continuing Resolution Authority (CRA) to prevent agencies whose appropriations have not been enacted from shutting down. A Continuing Resolution (CR) provides "stopgap" funding to keep affected agencies operating for a specified period of time. This period, spelled out in the resolution, may range from a few days to a few weeks or months or even the entire fiscal year - depending on when Congress believes it can pass the final appropriations bill(s).