Continuing Resolutions: When Congress Cannot Pass a Budget

Federal government operations depend on annual funding legislation, but Congress frequently fails to enact full appropriations bills before the fiscal year deadline of October 1. When that happens, a continuing resolution (CR) becomes the mechanism that keeps government agencies funded and operational. This page explains what continuing resolutions are, how they function procedurally, the circumstances that typically trigger their use, and the key legal and political boundaries that govern them.

Definition and scope

A continuing resolution is a joint resolution passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President that authorizes continued federal spending when one or more of the 12 standard annual appropriations bills have not been enacted by the start of the fiscal year (Congressional Research Service, "Continuing Appropriations: Overview and Analysis"). Unlike a full appropriations act, a CR does not set new spending levels from scratch — it typically maintains funding at or near the previous year's rate, expressed as a percentage of prior-year appropriations or as a flat dollar figure tied to a specific baseline.

CRs are a product of the appropriations process, which under 31 U.S.C. § 1341 prohibits federal agencies from obligating funds beyond what has been appropriated. Without an active appropriation — whether a full bill or a CR — most non-essential government functions must cease under the Antideficiency Act, the same statute. The scope of a CR can cover a single agency, a subset of departments, or the entire federal government depending on which regular appropriations bills remain unfinished.

How it works

A continuing resolution moves through Congress as a joint resolution, subject to the same procedural requirements as any other legislation: passage by majority vote in the House, passage in the Senate (where it may face procedural holds or filibuster), and presidential signature. The legislative mechanism is explained in detail on the how a bill becomes a law page.

The operative funding formula inside a CR follows one of several standard structures:

1. Rate-based funding — Agencies are funded at a fixed percentage of the prior fiscal year's enacted appropriation, such as 99% or 100% of the previous level. This is the most common approach.
2. Annualized dollar cap — The resolution specifies a total spending ceiling that, if maintained for a full year, would equal a set dollar amount.
3. Activity-limited funding — Agencies may be restricted to continuing only ongoing projects and programs, with prohibitions on initiating new programs, awarding new grants, or entering new contracts.
4. Anomalies — Congress may write in specific exceptions, called anomalies, that allow a particular agency or program to operate at a different rate than the general formula — either higher or lower — when circumstances require it.

CRs specify an expiration date, which may be as short as a few days (a stopgap measure used to extend negotiations) or as long as the remainder of the fiscal year (a full-year CR). A full-year CR running through September 30 effectively substitutes for a regular appropriations act, though agencies operating under one typically face constraints on starting new initiatives.

Common scenarios

Three distinct political and procedural situations tend to produce continuing resolutions:

Appropriations deadline failure — The most routine cause is the inability of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to reconcile differences across all 12 annual spending bills before October 1. Congress has enacted all 12 bills on time only 4 times since 1977, according to the Congressional Research Service, meaning CRs are the norm rather than the exception.

Bicameral disagreement — When the House and Senate pass different versions of appropriations legislation and conference negotiations stall, a CR provides a holding pattern while talks continue.

Presidential veto threat or actual veto — When the President signals or executes a veto of appropriations legislation over policy riders or spending levels, a short-term CR can maintain operations while Congress and the White House negotiate.

If a CR expires without replacement and no new appropriations act has been signed, the result is a government shutdown — a lapse in appropriations under which agencies must furlough non-essential employees and halt non-essential operations. The 2018–2019 shutdown lasted 35 days, the longest on record (Congressional Research Service, "Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview").

Decision boundaries

Understanding what distinguishes a continuing resolution from related instruments clarifies its specific function in the appropriations landscape.

Continuing resolution vs. omnibus appropriations act — An omnibus bill consolidates multiple or all regular appropriations bills into a single large package and sets new, fully negotiated spending levels for each agency. A CR, by contrast, preserves prior-year funding levels as a default and avoids the full negotiation required for an omnibus. Both can cover the same fiscal scope, but their policy content differs fundamentally.

Continuing resolution vs. the reconciliation process — The reconciliation process is a separate legislative mechanism used to adjust mandatory spending, revenues, and the debt ceiling. CRs govern discretionary spending only — the portion of the federal budget controlled through annual appropriations, which historically has represented roughly 30% of total federal spending (Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables).

Short-term CR vs. full-year CR — A short-term CR (sometimes days or weeks) buys time for negotiations without committing to any particular spending path. A full-year CR forecloses further appropriations negotiation for that fiscal year and locks agencies into prior-year baselines, which may disadvantage programs that received increases in the House or Senate versions of regular appropriations bills.

The broader legislative framework governing federal spending authority — including the constitutional basis for appropriations power under Article I — is documented across the legislative reference resources on this site.