The focus shifts from strategic fiscal governance to the more immediate goal of avoiding government shutdowns. Without annual funding provided through the appropriation process, a government shutdown could occur, which could have significant fiscal and economic effects. Such effects include the disruption of government services and programs, the creation of uncertainty about future fiscal policy, and the imposition of unnecessary costs on the economy.
Ensure that all project documentation is up to date and readily accessible. Accurate and timely reporting can help maintain a positive relationship with contracting officers and reduce the risk of audit issues. Contractors should review their cash flow projections and ensure they have sufficient reserves to manage any delays in what does cr stand for in government payments. Consider negotiating flexible payment terms with subcontractors and suppliers to maintain liquidity.
Q: Yikes. Did Congress pass a Continuing Resolution this time?
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. CRs become necessary when the October 1 deadline is missed for one or more of the 12 regular appropriations bills. The U.S. government’s method for deciding how to spend taxpayer money, known as the appropriations process, directly impacts countless services Americans rely on daily. This process determines funding for everything from national defense and infrastructure to healthcare research and environmental protection.
How Often Does Congress Pass a CR?
- CRs are not new; they have been a recurring feature in U.S. budget policy.
- A Continuing Resolution (CR) is temporary funding legislation designed to keep government departments, agencies, and programs operating when their regular appropriations bills haven’t been enacted by October 1.
- During the FY2019 shutdown, an estimated 800,000 employees were affected, and a similar number in the 2013 shutdown.
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- Sometimes these are simple updates, additional extensions of authorizing bills that were due to expire, or similar provisions.
- The Antideficiency Act is a cornerstone of federal fiscal law that makes CRs necessary when regular appropriations lapse.
Each year, it seems we face the same uncertainty as the fiscal year draws to a close — will there be a government shutdown, or will Congress pass a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the lights on? For 2024, we find ourselves in the middle of this familiar scenario once again. In this article, we’ll break down everything contractors need to know about the Continuing Resolution of 2024, its implications and how to prepare for the weeks ahead. I have seen the effect of CR budgeting first hand during my time as a government contractor and small business owner. Because a CR only funds the government for a short amount of time, the government can only fund contractors for a short amount of time.
Impact on National Priorities
- It funds the government for a set amount of time and money, typically for a few months, at which point another CR is passed.
- One type is called Discretionary Spending–these are “appropriated funds” and they have to be agreed upon year-to-year.
- The budget is used in planning by both the private and public sectors.
- This erosion of public trust is a less tangible but nonetheless profoundly significant consequence of a persistently broken and crisis-driven budget process.
A CR provides a quick-and-dirty legislative solution to keeping federal agencies operating, without delving into the policy debates that presumably makes enacting full appropriations acts a challenge. Since congressional legislating is a rare event, policy initiatives are often bundled into legislation that eventually must be signed into law. For example, the congressional majority attempted to enact a debt limit suspension in the most recent CR.
How CRs Function
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.
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 had been an emperor before him. The first five emperors all carried the family name Caesar, either by blood or by adoption.
Because Congress has yet to pass any bills to fund government operations, they had to pass a Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government open for business. A CR is an appropriations bill that continues the previous fiscal year’s funding levels to a date certain, typically to prevent a government shutdown at midnight on September 30th (which is the end of the federal fiscal year). The inherent structure of CRs—typically funding at previous year’s levels and prohibiting “new starts”—creates immediate operational challenges for federal agencies, even if a government shutdown is avoided. This isn’t merely about potentially receiving less money than anticipated; it fundamentally impairs agencies’ ability to adapt to changing circumstances or new requirements. Regular appropriations are the traditional way the federal government funds its discretionary programs.
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.
Sometimes these are simple updates, additional extensions of authorizing bills that were due to expire, or similar provisions. A “clean” CR is a straight extension of existing appropriations from the previously enacted fiscal year at the same levels. If all else fails, a CR can even last a full federal fiscal year as a “full year CR” if no deal is reached and Congress wants to continue existing funding. For example, Social Security benefits are funded through a permanent appropriation and continue to be paid during shutdowns.
CR as an Acronym
The remainder consists of mandatory programs (like Social Security and Medicare) and interest on the national debt. Understanding these two funding pathways reveals an inherent tension in the budget process—a constant struggle between orderly, planned governance and the political realities that often obstruct timely agreements. The uncertainty of government funding can impact staffing decisions.