One nuance of the Continuing Resolution issue is that a full government shutdown may or may not happen if a CR or budget agreement cannot be reached. In 2018 and 2019 when a partial shutdown was initiated, just under 400,000 employees got furloughed, and another 400,000-plus workers showed up for work but did not get paid until the end of the shutdown. On more than one occasion employees were sent government mandated 30-day layoff notices because no budget was in place and the funds from the CR had run out. Following a repetition of layoff notices, several valuable and productive employees left the company for more stable jobs. This had a negative effect on production and caused additional costs as new employees had to be hired and trained. The purpose of the budget process is to have a timely and consistent monetary plan for the country to work from.
The Temporary Fix: Continuing Resolutions
Register with us to become part of an important movement to develop long-term fiscal solutions for a healthy growing economy. By signing up, you’ll receive our email newsletter with relevant and timely information on economic and fiscal policy. Register with us to become part of an important movement to develop long-term, nonpartisan fiscal solutions for a healthy growing economy. Since the 1970s and until 2019, the government has had funding issues requiring the consideration of a CR or threat of a shutdown some 20 times.
What’s a Continuing Resolution and Why Does It Matter?
The OMB and the White House review these numbers, adjust them as needed, and then send them to Congress by the first Monday of February each year. Along with these security priorities, the CR also extends the charter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an organization that creates American jobs by helping to take American businesses global.
Why Are Continuing Resolutions an Important Part of the Budget Process?
The uncertainty causes interest rates to be higher and removes the impetus for business to reinvest profits. Instead businesses hold onto their money due to the uncertainty, thus hampering economic growth. Brittany A. Madni is the Executive Vice President of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). She served as a Congressional aide and trusted senior advisor for a decade on Capitol Hill, developing a nuanced understanding of the legislative process with an emphasis on budget and appropriations strategy.
Senate Bills Contain Earmarks for Left-Wing Activists
A “full-year” Continuing Resolution provides final funding amounts for covered federal agencies and programs for the entire remainder of a fiscal year, effectively taking the place of one or more regular appropriations acts that were not enacted. In essence, for the agencies it covers, the full-year CR becomes their regular appropriation for that fiscal year, providing certainty about funding levels through September 30. The Antideficiency Act serves as a powerful enforcement mechanism for congressional authority over federal spending. However, when timely appropriations aren’t passed, it transforms from a tool for fiscal discipline into a trigger for significant operational chaos (government shutdowns) or drives the adoption of suboptimal governance through repeated CRs. While the Act’s purpose is to prevent unauthorized spending, its consequence when Congress fails to act is the mandated cessation of many government functions, with substantial disruptive effects on public services, federal employees, and the broader economy.
Will There Be a Government Shutdown?
ExecutiveGov, published by Executive Mosaic, is a site dedicated to the news and headlines in the federal government. ExecutiveGov serves as a news source for the hot topics and issues facing federal government departments and agencies such as Gov 2.0, cybersecurity policy, health IT, green IT and national security. We also aim to spotlight various federal government employees and interview key government executives whose impact resonates beyond their agency. You might think that CR stands for ‘Continuing Resolution’ – a method to fund the government – and you would technically be correct. However, CR should stand for Constrained Republic as it stifles growth within America. It funds the government for a set amount of time and money, typically for a few months, at which point another CR is passed.
- The twinned letters on the Capitol’s collective lips this month are C and R.
- This means members may be compelled to vote for a package that funds programs they oppose or fails to adequately fund programs they support, simply to ensure the government remains open and funded for the remainder of the fiscal year.
- The title must be signed over to you before you can get a newtitle in your name.
- A “clean” CR is a straight extension of existing appropriations from the previously enacted fiscal year at the same levels.
- For example, in the most recent CR, Congress extended policies related to federal appointments, school lunches, and fentanyl, among other policies.
Conversely, the development and increasing use of CRs as a “stopgap” measure implicitly acknowledges that this ideal process frequently falters. This duality is not accidental but a systemic adaptation to the intricate challenges of governing within a diverse democracy. If you mean Julius Caesar, he was not an emperor and there never what does cr stand for in government had been an emperor before him. The first five emperors all carried the family name Caesar, either by blood or by adoption.
- The detailed structure of appropriations acts, including specific account allocations and general provisions, underscores Congress’s intent to maintain significant control over executive branch spending.
- Measures the change in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services.
- Lawmakers’ dependence on CRs to fund the government on a short-term basis undermines the budget process and introduces uncertainty to government agencies.
- Because it forces a single up-or-down vote on a massive, all-encompassing funding package, it inevitably contains elements that are undesirable to various factions or individual members of Congress.
- In our government, the legislative branch holds the power of the purse, which means Congress is responsible for passing legislation to fund the government.
That said, the Coast Guard once experienced major delays in paying their troops during 2019 because the Department of Homeland Security (which the Coast Guard falls under) was not funded for a time. Basically, during a full shutdown, all federal agencies will follow its own shutdown program. Federal budgets must be passed before the deadline of Sept. 30 in order for the government to continue operating as it is expected to.
This entire process allows Congress to thoroughly assess federal programs, make informed decisions about resource allocation, and clearly communicate its spending priorities. Increasing the debt ceiling allows the Treasury to borrow funds to pay for government obligations that have already been incurred as the result of laws and budgets approved by the President and Congress. Government contracting is inherently unpredictable, but with the right strategies and a proactive approach, you can minimize disruptions and continue delivering value to your government clients. Stay tuned for further updates, and don’t hesitate to reach out to experts in government contracting for additional support and guidance. During a CR, contractors must remain vigilant about compliance and reporting requirements.
Contracts may be extended or modified, and timely communication with contracting officers becomes essential to ensure smooth operations. The twinned letters on the Capitol’s collective lips this month are C and R. Together they stand for “continuing resolution,” the colloquial name for legislation that keeps money flowing to federal programs whose regular spending bills are unfinished. A shutdown does NOT mean a complete lack of government operations. Instead, non-essential services are cancelled, layoffs and furloughs may happen for these employees, and the day to day business of the government is negatively affected in these areas. When the deadline passes without a budget or a continuing resolution to temporarily fund government operations until a budget deal can be made, a shutdown is required until one or the other can pass.
Fiscal year 2025 began on October 1, 2024 and none of the 12 appropriation bills for that year had been enacted at that time. Instead, a continuing resolution was enacted on September 26 to avoid a government shutdown and provide temporary funding for government operations (plus some supplemental funding for other purposes) through December 20. As that date approached, legislators still had not reached an agreement on appropriations for fiscal year 2025, so a second CR was enacted to extend government funding through March 14, 2025 (plus some supplemental funding for other purposes). Ahead of the midnight deadline on that date, lawmakers passed a third CR to continue funding through the remainder of fiscal year 2025 at the previous year’s level for most programs. While not an ironclad rule, members of both parties typically try to avoid government shutdowns.
After this date, if Congress does not reach an agreement on the new budget, the risk of a government shutdown resurfaces. CRs are not new; they have been a recurring feature in U.S. budget policy. They help avoid the disruptive and costly effects of a government shutdown, but they also come with limitations. Under a CR, no new programs can start, and existing programs cannot expand their budgets. This status quo approach can limit a contractor’s ability to plan and execute long-term projects effectively. Military pay can be affected unless there is legislation or some other provision to prevent a delay in pay for troops.
