Order Code RL30343
Continuing Resolutions: FY2007 Action and
Brief Overview of Recent Practices
Updated February 2, 2007
Sandy Streeter
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division

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Continuing Resolutions: FY2007 Action and
Brief Overview of Recent Practices
Summary
Most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year
through the enactment of several regular appropriations acts. Since these bills are
annual, expiring at the end of the fiscal year, regular bills for the subsequent fiscal
year must be enacted by October 1. Final action on some of the regular appropriations
bills, however, are typically delayed beyond the deadline. When this occurs, the
affected departments and agencies are generally funded under temporary continuing
appropriations acts until the final funding decisions become law. Because continuing
appropriations acts are, for the most part, enacted in the form of joint resolutions,
such acts are referred to as continuing resolutions (or CRs).
CRs generally can be divided into two categories — those that provide interim
(or temporary) funding and those that provide funds through the end of the fiscal
year. Interim continuing resolutions provide funding until a specific date or until the
enactment of the applicable regular appropriations acts, if earlier. Full-year
continuing resolutions provide funding in lieu of one or more regular appropriations
bills through the end of the fiscal year.
Over the past 35 years, the nature, scope, and duration of continuing resolutions
gradually expanded and, then, contracted. From the early 1970s through 1987, CRs
gradually expanded from interim funding measures of comparatively brief duration
and length to measures providing funding through the end of the fiscal year. The
full-year measures included, in some cases, the full text of one or more regular
appropriations bills and contained substantive legislation (i.e., provisions under the
jurisdiction of committees other than the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees). Since 1987, continuing resolutions have generally been interim
funding measures with little substantive legislation.
Over the years, delay in the enactment of regular appropriations measures and
CRs after the beginning of the fiscal year has led to periods during which
appropriations authority has lapsed. Such periods generally are referred to as funding
gaps.
Nine of the 11 FY2007 regular appropriations bills remain outstanding.
Congress and the President, therefore, have concluded action on three temporary,
sequential FY2007 continuing resolutions, which together have extended funding for
these outstanding bills from October 1, 2006, through February 15, 2007. (These
continuing resolutions follow: P.L. 109-289, Division B; P.L. 109-369; and P.L. 109-
383.)
On January 31, 2007, the House adopted a fourth CR, Revised Continuing
Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (H.J.Res. 20), which would extend funding for the
nine outstanding FY2007 regular bills through the end of FY2007.

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Contents
FY2007 Continuing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Most Recent Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Initial FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-289, Division B) . . . . . . . . 3
Second FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-369) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Third FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-383) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Fourth FY2007 Continuing Resolution (H.J.Res. 20, 110th Cong.) . . . . . . . . 7
Recent Practices Regarding Continuing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
History and Recent Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Types of Continuing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Substantive Legislative Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Funding Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
For Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Congressional Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
CRS Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Budget and Appropriations Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
FY2007 Regular Appropriations Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Other Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
List of Tables
Table 1. Action on FY2007 Continuing Resolutions (CRs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table 2. Regular Appropriations Bills Enacted by Deadline and
Continuing Resolutions (CRs), FY1977-FY2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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Continuing Resolutions: FY2007 Action and
Brief Overview of Recent Practices
Most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year
through the enactment of several regular appropriations acts. For FY2006 and
FY2007, there have been 11 annual regular appropriations acts;1 for FY2008, there
will be 12 regular acts. Since these bills are annual, expiring at the end of the fiscal
year,2 regular bills for the subsequent fiscal year must be enacted by October 1.
However, final action on several regular appropriations bills is typically delayed
beyond the deadline. When this occurs, the affected departments and agencies are
generally funded under temporary continuing appropriations acts until the final
spending decisions become law. Because continuing appropriations acts are, for the
most part, enacted in the form of joint resolutions, such acts are referred to as
continuing resolutions (or CRs).
This report is divided into two segments. The first segment provides the most
recent developments on and selected provisions of the FY2007 continuing
resolutions. The second segment provides information on the history of CRs; the
nature, scope, and duration of CRs during the past 35 years; the types of CRs that
have been enacted; and an overview of those instances when spending has lapsed and
a funding gap has resulted.
FY2007 Continuing Resolutions
Most Recent Developments
Nine of the 11 FY2007 regular appropriations measures remain outstanding. On
January 31, 2007, the House adopted H.J.Res. 20, Revised Continuing
Appropriations Resolution, 2007, which would extend funding for the remaining bills
through the end of FY2007. These regular bills have been funded through three
sequential FY2007 continuing resolutions that together have extended funding from
October 1, 2006, through February 15, 2007. A short description of each follows.
1 Initially, the House considered 11 regular bills, while the Senate considered 12 regular
bills. During congressional consideration of the appropriations bills, the Senate combines
two bills, resulting in 11 enacted measures. The Senate adds the Senate District of
Columbia bill to the Senate Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the
Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The coverage of this combined bill
corresponds to the House’s Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the
Judiciary, the District of Columbia and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill.
2 The fiscal year of the federal government begins on October 1 and ends the following
September 30.

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CRS-2
Regarding the initial FY2007 continuing resolution, the conference committee
on the FY2007 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (FY2007 Defense
Appropriations Act)3 included the CR in the conference report on the bill. This
continuing resolution4 extended funding from October 1, 2006, through November
17, 2006. President George W. Bush signed the bill on September 29, 2006. The act
temporarily funded 10 FY2007 regular appropriations bills, until the 10th regular bill,
FY2007 Department of Homeland Security Act,5 became law on October 4, 2006.
The second FY2007 CR6 was approved on November 17, 2006; it extended
funding through December 8, 2006.
On December 9, 2006, President George W. Bush approved the third FY2007
CR7 that continues spending for the nine regular bills through February 15, 2007.
For congressional and presidential action on the FY2007 continuing resolutions,
see Table 1.
Table 1. Action on FY2007 Continuing Resolutions (CRs)

Committee
Conference Report
Measure
Approval
Approval
House
Senate
Conference
Public
House
Senate
Passage
Passage
Report
House
Senate
Law
H.R. 5631,
FY2007 Defense
H.Rept.
09/26/06
09/29/06
09/29/06
a
a
a
a
Appropriations Act
109-676
394-22
100-0
109-289
11/15/06
11/15/06
11/17/06
—
—
Voice
UCc
—
—
—
109-369
H.J.Res. 100, CR
Voteb
—
—
12/08/06
12/09/07
—
—
—
12/09/06
H.J.Res. 102, CR
370-20
UCc
109-383
—
01/31/07
H.J.Res. 20, CR
286-140
a. The continuing resolution was not included in H.R. 5631 as approved by the House or Senate Committees on Appropriations or as passed
by the House or Senate. The conference committee on H.R. 5631 added it to the conference report.
b. The House adopted the measure under suspension of the rules.
c. The Senate adopted the continuing resolution, without amendment, by unanimous consent. That is, a unanimous consent request was
proposed to adopt the measure and since no Senator objected, the resolution was adopted.
3 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 109-289; 120 Stat. 1257).
4 Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (Public Law 109-289, Division B; 120 Stat.
1311).
5 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 109-295; 120 Stat.
1355).
6 P.L. 109-369, 120 Stat. 369.
7 P.L. 109-383, 120 Stat. 2678.

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CRS-3
Initial FY2007 Continuing Resolution
(P.L. 109-289, Division B)
The initial FY2007 continuing resolution generally extended budget authority8
for accounts9 funded by discretionary or mandatory spending10 through November 17,
2006. The CR, however, authorized mandatory spending payments due on or about
December 1, 2006. The resolution also provides that if a regular appropriations bill
becomes law prior to the expiration date, CR funding will generally cease for that act.
This CR generally extends budget authority for accounts funded in the FY2006
regular appropriations acts and would also be funded in the House- or Senate-passed
FY2007 regular bills. Spending is also extended for accounts funded in the FY2006
acts, if: (1) only the House passed the applicable FY2007 regular bill and the bill did
not provide spending for the account; or (2) neither chamber passed a FY2007
regular bill. This CR generally prohibits funding for new projects or activities that
were not funded in FY2006.
CRs generally provide spending rates for most of the accounts covered; by
contrast, both regular and supplemental appropriations acts generally provide a
specific amount for each account funded. The initial FY2007 CR provides spending
rates generally based on formulas. An exception is provided for mandatory spending,
primarily entitlement programs, and the Food Stamp Program. The funding level for
each program is the amount needed to maintain current program levels under existing
law. This is generally designed to provide additional funding, if needed, to continue
current services for eligible beneficiaries.
8 Congress funds federal activities by providing agencies with budget authority, instead of
cash. Budget authority refers to authority provided by law to enter into financial obligations
requiring either immediate or future expenditures (or outlays) of government funds.
Congress may make budget authority for specified activities available for obligation for only
a single fiscal year, specified multi-years, or indefinitely. An appropriation is a type of
budget authority that not only provides authority to make financial obligations for specified
activities, but also provides authority to make payments from the Treasury for those
activities.
9 The basic unit of a regular or supplemental appropriations act is the account. Under these
acts, funding for each department and large independent agency is distributed among several
accounts. Each account, generally, includes similar programs, projects, or items, such as a
“research and development” account or “salaries and expenses” account. For small
agencies, a single account may fund all of the agency’s activities. These acts typically
provide a lump-sum amount for each of these accounts. A few accounts include a single
program, project, or item, which the appropriations acts fund individually.
10 Congress divides budget authority and the resulting outlays into two categories:
discretionary and mandatory (or direct) spending. Discretionary spending is controlled by
annual appropriations acts, which are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations. Mandatory spending is controlled by legislative acts under
the jurisdiction of the authorizing committees (principally, the House Committee on Ways
and Means and Senate Committee on Finance). All discretionary spending and some
mandatory spending are included in the annual appropriations measures. For more
information, see CRS Report 97-684, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An
Introduction, by Sandy Streeter.

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CRS-4
The funding level for each account is generally determined by one of three
formulas that are based on the status of the outstanding FY2007 regular
appropriations bill funding the account.11 A formula is established for each of the
following situations: both the House and Senate passed the outstanding FY2007
regular appropriations bill, only the House passed the regular bill, or neither chamber
passed the bill.
In instances in which both chambers passed their versions of a regular
appropriations bill, funding is continued for each account at the lower of the
amounts: (1) provided in the House-passed version of the bill; (2) provided in the
Senate-passed version of the bill; or (3) generally available in FY2006.12 An account
that would be funded by only one chamber is protected until the final funding
decisions are made in the FY2007 regular appropriations act. The funding level is
not zero, instead funding is continued at the lower of the amount that would be
provided by the chamber or was generally available in FY2006. Accounts funded in
FY2006 that would not be funded by either chamber for FY2007, however, are not
funded.
Initially, none of the nine outstanding FY2007 regular appropriations bills were
passed by both chambers. The continuing resolution, however, uses a modification
of this formula to fund specified Department of Defense activities. Due to a
jurisdictional mismatch between two House and Senate appropriations
subcommittees, funding for these activities was provided in the House-passed
FY2007 Military Construction, Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs
11 The initial CR provided that the formulas would be based on the status of each bill as of
October 1, 2006. The third continuing resolution (P.L. 109-383) changed the date to
November 15, 2006, in order to include the Senate-passed version of FY2007 Military
Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which the
Senate passed on November 14, 2006.
12 Technically, the resolution states the FY2006 amount is at a rate of operations not
exceeding the current rate. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided most
Executive Branch agencies detailed instructions for calculating the net amount of “not
exceeding the current rate” for each account funded in the FY2007 continuing resolution.
OMB directed the agencies to include the full-year amount enacted in the FY2006 regular
appropriations acts, minus any reductions (such as across-the-board reductions) and then
add, if any (1) the amount enacted in FY2006 supplemental appropriations acts for recurring
and ongoing projects and activities, if pre-approved by OMB; (2) the amount transferred to
or from other accounts, if mandated by law; and (3) the discretionary unobligated balance
carried forward to FY2006. Then, subtract from this sum the discretionary unobligated
balance at the end of FY2006, if any.
Once this net annualized amount has been calculated, OMB instructs the agencies to
multiply it by the lower of (1) the percentage of the year covered by the CR; or (2) the
historical seasonal rate of obligations for the period of the year covered by the CR. U.S.
Office of Management and Budget, Apportionment of the Continuing Resolution(s) for
Fiscal Year 2007, Bulletin No. 06-04 (Washington: Sept. 2006), Attachment, p. 1.
Unobligated balance refers to the cumulative amount of budget authority that is not
obligated and that, under law, remains available for obligation. For example, if Congress
had provided an appropriation to an account of $2 million for the FY2006-FY2007 period
and, by the end of FY2006, the agency had only obligated $1.5 million; the remaining $0.5
million would be an unobligated balance.

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CRS-5
Appropriations bill (FY2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill)13 and the
Senate-passed FY2007 Defense appropriations bill. Therefore, the CR provides that
these activities are funded at the lower of the amounts: (1) provided in the House-
passed FY2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill; (2) provided in the
Senate-passed version of the FY2007 Defense Appropriations Act; or (3) generally
available in FY2006. The effected Department of Defense activities follow: basic
allowance for housing activities; facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization
activities; “Environmental Restoration” accounts; and “Defense Health Program
Account.” Final FY2007 funding levels for these activities are expected to be
provided in the enacted FY2007 Military Quality of Life regular appropriations bill.
As mentioned previously, the initial continuing resolution provides a separate
formula for instances in which only the House passed a FY2007 regular
appropriations bill. Funding is continued at the lower of the amount that would be
provided in the House-passed bill or was generally available in FY2006. If the
House-passed bill would not continue FY2006 funding for an account, the account
is protected. It is funded at the FY2006 level.
Initially eight of the nine outstanding FY2007 regular appropriations bills were
funded under this formula, specifically the FY2007: (1) Agriculture, Rural
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations
bill (H.R. 5384); (2) Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill (H.R.
5427); (3) State, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
Appropriations bill (H.R. 5522); (4) Department of the Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 5386); (5) Legislative Branch
Appropriations bill (H.R. 5521); (6) remaining portions of the Military Quality of
Life Appropriations bill;14 (7) Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and
Related Agencies (H.R. 5672); and (8) Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban
Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies
Appropriations bill (H.R. 5576).
The final formula applies to FY2007 regular appropriations bills that neither
chamber has passed. Funding is continued at the FY2006 levels. This formula only
applies to one FY2007 regular bill: FY2007 Departments of Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R.
5647, S. 3708).
The initial FY2007 continuing resolution makes funding available under terms
and conditions provided in the applicable FY2006 regular appropriations acts. For
example, a provision in an FY2006 regular appropriations act prohibiting the use of
funds in an account for a specified activity or project may be in effect.
13 109th Congress, H.R. 5385.
14 On November 14, 2006, the Senate passed the FY2007 Military Quality of Life bill.
Beginning with the enactment of the third CR on December 9, 2006, the House- and Senate-
passed formula has been used to fund the remaining military quality of life activities (see
“Third FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-383)” below).

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CRS-6
Second FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-369)
This CR was a clean resolution that simply changed the expiration date of the
initial continuing resolution from November 17 to December 8, 2006.
Third FY2007 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 109-383)
The third CR modifies the previous continuing resolutions as well as adding
other provisions, some are highlighted below.
The expiration date is changed from December 8, 2006, to February 15, 2007.
The CR, however, authorizes mandatory spending payments due on or about March
1, 2007.
The CR also changes the discretionary funding formula for certain activities
associated with the House-passed FY2007 Military Quality of Life and Veterans
Affairs appropriations bill. First, the CR adds a Department of Defense account,
“Chemical Demilitarization Construction, Defense-Wide account,” to those activities
that are funded at the lower of the amounts: (1) provided in the House-passed
FY2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill; (2) provided in the Senate-
passed version of the FY2007 Defense Appropriations Act; or (3) generally available
in FY2006.
Second, it changes the funding formula for the remaining Military Quality of
Life activities to reflect Senate-passage of the bill on November 14, 2006. Under the
CR, these activities are funded at the lower of the amounts: (1) provided in the
House-passed FY2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill; (2) Senate-passed
FY2007 Military Quality of Life Appropriations bill; or (3) generally available in
FY2006.15
In response to concerns about a shortfall in funds for the Medical Services
account under the Department of Veterans Affairs,16 this continuing resolution
provides the department with authority to transfer up to $684 million from other
department accounts to the Medical Services account.
The continuing resolution also delays the scheduled cost-of-living pay increase
for Members of Congress until February 16, 2007, the day after this continuing
resolution expires.
15 The initial CR based the formulas on the status of the regular bills as of October 1, 2006.
In order to reflect Senate passage of the Military Quality of Life bill on November 14, 2006,
the third CR, which became law on December 9, changed date status to November 15, 2006
16 This account is under the Veterans Health Administration, which is a part of the
Department of Veterans Affairs.

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CRS-7
Fourth FY2007 Continuing Resolution
(H.J.Res. 20, 110th Cong.)
This measure would extend funding for the nine outstanding regular
appropriations bills through the end of FY2007 and replace the FY2007 funding
formula and adjustments previously enacted. The new spending rate is described
below. It is important to note that the new CR would provide adjustments to the rate
for numerous accounts under each of the regular acts covered (for specifics, see
H.J.Res. 20).
The spending rate would no longer be based on any action on the FY2007
regular appropriations bills, instead this CR provides that accounts funded in the
FY2006 regular appropriations acts would be funded at the level appropriated in the
those acts, including transfers and obligation limitations.17 Funds designated as an
emergency or for overseas contingency operations in the FY2006 acts, however,
would be excluded.18 The funding level would also exclude rescissions,19 except the
following: (1) 1.0% government-wide discretionary spending rescission provided in
the FY2006 Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to
Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act;20 (2)
0.476% across-the-board rescission of discretionary appropriations in the FY2006
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act;21
and (3) 0.28% across-the-board rescission of discretionary accounts in the FY2006
Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.22
This measure retains the exception for mandatory spending and the Food Stamp
Program included in the initial FY2007 CR. That is, the funding level for each
program is the amount needed to maintain current program levels under existing law.
This is generally designed to provide additional funding, if needed, to continue
current services for eligible beneficiaries.
Under the fourth CR, funds remain available under terms and conditions
provided in the applicable FY2006 regular appropriations acts.
17 An obligation limitation is a provision of a law or legislation that restricts or reduces the
availability of budget authority that would have become available under another provision
of law.
18 Since 1990, the House and Senate have generally provided mechanisms to exempt certain
funding from spending ceilings associated with a budget resolution, which may be enforced
by points of order. The FY2006 budget resolution provided that funds designated as an
emergency or for contingency operations would be exempt (see section 402 of the FY2006
budget resolution, H.Con.Res 95 (109th Cong.). For information on the points of order, see
CRS Report 97-865, Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process, by James V.
Saturno.
19 Rescissions cancel previously enacted budget authority.
20 For the specifics, see P.L. 109-148, section 3801; 119 Stat. 2791.
21 For the specifics, see P.L. 109-54, section 439; 119 Stat. 559.
22 For the specifics, see P.L. 109-108, section 638; 119 Stat. 2347.

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CRS-8
Recent Practices Regarding
Continuing Resolutions
Background
Under the Constitution and federal law, no funds may be drawn from the U.S.
Treasury or obligated by federal officials unless appropriated by law.23 Traditionally,
most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year
through separate enactment of several regular, annual appropriations acts.24 Because
these measures expire at the end of the fiscal year, the regular appropriations bills for
the subsequent fiscal year must be enacted by October 1. However, final action on
one or more regular appropriations bills is typically delayed beyond the deadline (for
data on the FY1977-FY2006 period, see Table 2). When this occurs, the affected
departments and agencies are generally funded under temporary continuing
appropriations acts until the final funding decisions are enacted. Because continuing
appropriations acts typically are enacted in the form of joint resolutions, such acts are
referred to as continuing resolutions (or CRs).
History and Recent Trends
Continuing resolutions date from at least the late 1870s, and have been a regular
part of the annual appropriations process for over 50 years. In fact, with the
exception of three fiscal years (FY1989, FY1995, and FY199725), at least one
continuing resolution has been enacted for each fiscal year since FY1954. (In
addition, all 13 FY1977 regular appropriations bills became law on or by the
deadline, but two CRs were enacted to generally fund certain unauthorized activities
that had not been included in the regular appropriations acts.) From FY1978 through
FY2006, Congress enacted on average five continuing resolutions per year (for
detailed information, see Table 2).
23 Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, and 31 U.S.C. 1341. A major exception to this
concept is contract authority. Congress enacts legislation providing an agency with
authority to make obligations (budget authority). After the obligations are made, Congress
provides the appropriations providing the authority to make the payments in another law
(appropriations). Such appropriations are not considered budget authority.
24 For almost 40 years (FY1968-FY2005), Congress considered 13 regular appropriations
bills each year. Beginning with FY2006, the number of bills considered was reduced due
to separate reorganizations of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The House
initially considers 11 regular bills and the Senate 12 bills. During congressional
consideration of the appropriations bills, the Senate combines two bills, resulting in 11
enacted measures. The Senate adds the Senate District of Columbia bill to the Senate
Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, and Related
Agencies Appropriations bill. The coverage of this combined bill corresponds to the
House’s Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the
District of Columbia and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill.
25 In the first two instances, all 13 regular appropriations bills were enacted individually on
or by the deadline. In the last instance, the deadline was met by adding five regular bills to
a sixth bill, forming an omnibus appropriations act, and enacting seven bills individually.

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CRS-9
Table 2. Regular Appropriations Bills Enacted by Deadline and
Continuing Resolutions (CRs), FY1977-FY2006
Party in Control
Regular
of Congress
Appropriations Bills
Approved by
Presidential
or on
Enacted in
CRs
FY
Administration
Senate
House
October 1
CRs
Enacted
1977
Gerald Ford
Democrats
Democrats
13
0
(2a)
1978
Jimmy Carter
Democrats
Democrats
9
1
3
1979
5
1
1
1980
3
3
2
1981
1
5
2
1982
Ronald Reagan
Republicans
Democrats
0
4
4
1983
1
7
2
1984
4
3
2
1985
4
8
5
1986
0
7
5
1987
0
13
5
1988
Democrats
0
13
5
1989
13
0
0
1990
George H.W. Bush
Democrats
Democrats
1
0
3
1991
0
0
5
1992
3
1
4
1993
1
0
1
1994
William Clinton
Democrats
Democrats
2
0
3
1995
13
0
0
1996
Republicans Republicans
0
0b
13
1997
(13)c
0
0
1998
1
0
6
1999
1
0
6
2000
4
0
7
2001
2
0
21
2002
George W. Bush
Democratsd Republicans 0
0
8
2003
Republicanse
0
0f
8
2004
3
0
5
2005
1
0
3
2006
2
0
3
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Appropriations, Budget Estimates,
Etc., 94th Congress, 2nd session - 104th Congress, 1st session (Washington: GPO, 1976-1995). U.S.
Congress, House, Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation, 104th
Congress, 1st session - 108th Congress, 2nd session (Washington: GPO, 1995-2004).
a. Although all 13 FY1977 regular appropriations bills became law on or by the deadline, two CRs
were enacted. These CRs generally provided funding for certain unauthorized activities that had
not been included in the regular appropriations acts.
b. An FY1996 continuing resolution (P.L. 104-99) provided full-year funding for the FY1996 foreign
operations regular bill; however, the continuing resolution provided that the foreign operations
measure be enacted separately (P.L. 104-107). It is excluded from the amount.
c. The deadline was met by adding five regular bills to a sixth regular bill, forming an omnibus
appropriations act, and enacting seven bills individually.
d. On June 6, 2001, the Democrats became the majority in the Senate. By that time, the Senate
Appropriations Committee had not reported any FY2002 regular appropriations measures.
e. The Democrats were the majority in the Senate in 2002, during initial consideration of the 13
FY2003 regular appropriations bills and final action on two of the regular bills. The
Republicans were the majority in 2003, during which final action on the remaining 11 FY2003
regular bills occurred.
f. One measure (P.L. 108-7) originated as a continuing resolution, but in conference it was converted
into an omnibus appropriations resolution.

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CRS-10
During the past 35 years, the nature, scope, and duration of CRs expanded and,
then, generally contracted. From the early 1970s through 1987, CRs gradually
expanded from interim funding measures of comparatively brief duration and length
to measures providing funding in lieu of one or more regular appropriations bills
through the end of the fiscal year (referred to as full-year continuing resolutions).
The full-year measures included, in some cases, the full text of one or more regular
appropriations bills and contained substantive legislation (i.e., provisions under the
jurisdiction of committees other than the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees). Since 1987, continuing resolutions have generally been interim
funding measures with little substantive legislation.
Until the early 1970s, continuing resolutions principally were limited in scope
and duration, and rarely exceeded a page or two in length. They were used almost
exclusively to provide interim funding at a minimum, formulaic level, and contained
few provisions unrelated to the interim funding.
Beginning in the early 1970s, conflict between the President and Congress over
major budget priorities, triggered in part by rapidly increasing deficits, greatly
increased the difficulty of reaching final agreement on regular appropriations acts.
This conflict led to protracted delay in their enactment. Continuing resolutions,
because they historically have been viewed as “must-pass” measures in view of the
constitutional and statutory imperatives, became a major battleground for the
resolution of budgetary and other conflicts. Consequently, the nature, scope, and
duration of CRs began to change.
Continuing resolutions began to be used to provide funds for longer periods, and
occasionally for an entire fiscal year, when agreement on one or more regular acts
could not be reached. Further, CRs became vehicles for substantive legislative
provisions unrelated to interim funding, as it became clear that in some years CRs
would be the most effective means to enact such provisions into law. These trends
culminated in FY1987 and FY1988, following a period of persistently high deficits
and sustained conflict over how to deal with them. For those two years, CRs
effectively became omnibus appropriations measures for the federal government,
incorporating all of the regular appropriations acts for the entire fiscal year as well
as a host of substantive legislation covering a broad range of policy areas.26
From FY1988 through FY1995, Congress and the President generally operated
under multi-year deficit reduction agreements achieved through budget summits. For
the FY1991-FY1995 period, an enforcement mechanism (referred to as
sequestration)27 was established. From FY1988 through FY1995, there was a period
of relative agreement on overall budget priorities and, therefore, agreements on
regular appropriations acts came more readily. Continuing resolutions, when
26 P.L. 99-591; 100 Stat. 3341 and P.L. 100-202; 101 Stat. 1329.
27 The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388-573, 1388-574)
established spending ceilings for discretionary spending for each fiscal year (FY1991-
FY1995). If appropriations measures were enacted that in total exceeded the spending
ceilings, the act provided for an automatic across-the-board reduction in discretionary
spending to eliminate the additional spending (referred to as sequestration).

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CRS-11
necessary, generally were more limited, contained far less substantive legislation, and
were used mainly to provide interim funding for relatively brief periods.
Since FY1995, the conflicts have generally resumed. Although the enforcement
mechanisms remained in effect from FY1996 through FY2002,28 conflict within
Congress and between Congress and the President on funding and policy issues
generally delayed action on regular appropriations bills. Beginning in FY1996 (and
continuing through FY2001) there were significant conflicts between the Democratic
President and the newly-elected Republican-controlled Congress. From FY2002
through FY2006, there were conflicts within the Republican-controlled Congress and
between Congress and the newly-elected Republican President (George W. Bush),
which delayed action on the regular bills.
Instead of resolving these differences in expanded continuing resolutions,
Congress and the Administration generally resolved them in omnibus regular
appropriations bills (or in separate appropriations bills). Omnibus regular
appropriations bills were generally developed by attaching outstanding regular
appropriations bills and substantive legislation to another regular appropriations bill
in conference.
The change in the type of vehicle for omnibus appropriations measures from
full-year continuing resolutions to regular appropriations bills was due, in part, to
avoid floor amendments to regular appropriations bills and expedite completion of
the regular bills. In the House and Senate, conference reports are not amendable.
Some regular bills either were not considered on the House or Senate floors or were
pulled before floor action was completed, thereby preventing action on certain floor
amendments. By attaching these measures to a conference report to another regular
bill, action on the amendments was avoided. An example of using an omnibus
appropriations measure to expedite consideration occurred during consideration of
the FY1997 regular appropriations bills. To ensure all the FY1997 regular
appropriations bills became law by the October 1 deadline, five FY1997 regular bills
were attached to a sixth FY1997 regular bill in conference. This action obviated the
need for a continuing resolution.
Since FY1995, continuing resolutions, when needed, have continued to provide
interim funding for short periods of time and have included little substantive
legislation.
Types of Continuing Resolutions
Continuing resolutions generally can be divided into two categories — interim
and full-year continuing resolutions.29
28 Two acts extended the spending ceilings originally established in the Budget Enforcement
Act of 1990. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 312,
683) extending the ceilings through FY1998 and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L.
105-33, 111 Stat. 251) extended the limits through FY2002.
29 For more information, see CRS Report RL32614, Duration of Continuing Resolutions in
(continued...)

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CRS-12
Interim (or partial) continuing resolutions provide temporary funding until a
specific date or until the enactment of the applicable regular appropriations acts, if
earlier. Since FY1989, they have remained fairly constant in form and structure. In
contrast to regular and supplemental appropriations acts, interim continuing
resolutions do not generally provide specific amounts for each account. These CRs
provide “such sums as are necessary” to continue funding at specified “rates for
operations” for accounts in bills covered by the resolution. The rates may be set in
various ways, for example, funding levels for accounts in a covered bill have been
based on formulas, such as (1) the lower of the amounts provided in the House-
passed version or Senate-passed version of the bill; or (2) the funding levels available
for the previous fiscal year. Rates may be based on the status of the covered bill.
In addition, some rates for operations have been simply the funding levels available
in the previous year. Continuing resolutions frequently provide rates that vary among
the bills funded.
In most cases, the rates provided in interim CRs have applied to most activities
covered by a particular regular appropriations act. However, such funding methods
also have been used to fund specific programs that were not covered by regular
appropriations acts because they were not yet authorized by law or for other reasons
(for example, Section 101 of P.L. 94-473).
Once a temporary continuing resolution is enacted, additional interim
resolutions, if necessary, are enacted to extend the deadline. These subsequent
continuing resolutions sometimes change the funding methods.
A form of interim CR is the long-term continuing resolution, which extends
appropriations for outstanding regular appropriations bills temporarily from one
calendar year into the next, but does not extend funding to the end of the fiscal year.
In cases in which a long-term CR extends funding into a new Congress, new bills
providing funding must be introduced in the new Congress. At the end of a
Congress, all measures that have not been enacted die.
Full-year continuing resolutions provide funding in lieu of one or more regular
appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year. (Table 2 provides the number
of regular bills funded through the end of the fiscal year in continuing resolutions.)
Full-year funding provisions have generally been of three types: (1) full text of the
regular act; (2) language that incorporates regular acts by reference to the latest stage
of congressional action (usually the conference agreement, if one has been reached);
or (3) rates of operations.
Full-year continuing resolutions effectively become regular appropriations acts
for the fiscal year. Further, when continuing resolutions have included the full text
of one or more regular appropriations acts, they also have included all the myriad
general and administrative provisions typically included in regular acts (see, for
example, Section 101 of P.L. 100-202 and Section 101 of P.L. 99-591).
Consequently, they may be hundreds of pages in length, whereas interim resolutions
29 (...continued)
Recent Years, by Robert Keith.

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CRS-13
typically are a few pages or less (in the case of a simple extension of a previous
resolution, perhaps less than half a page).
Since FY1977, Congress has included across-the-board spending reductions in
a few full-year and interim continuing resolutions. The continuing resolutions
generally provided a specific percentage reduction for activities in the specified
regular appropriations bills. The FY1992 full-year continuing resolution,30 for
example, required a 1.5% spending reduction in discretionary spending activities in
the only outstanding FY1992 regular appropriations bill. Another example is the
FY1982 interim continuing resolution,31 that included a 4% across-the-board
reduction, with certain exceptions, for specified FY1982 regular appropriations bills.
A subsequent FY1982 full-year continuing resolution extended this provision
through the end of the fiscal year.
During consideration of the FY1996 continuing resolutions, Congress also used
a another type of continuing resolution: targeted appropriations. A single continuing
resolution traditionally provides funding for all activities in the outstanding regular
appropriations and generally provides the same expiration date for all these bills. In
January 1996, Congress separated activities from the six outstanding regular bills and
distributed them among three FY1996 continuing resolutions.32 Some of the
activities were full-year funded, while others were temporarily funded.
Substantive Legislative Provisions
Substantive legislative provisions (i.e., provisions under the jurisdiction of
committees other than the House and Senate Appropriations Committees) covering
a wide range of subjects also have been included in some continuing resolutions.
Continuing resolutions are attractive vehicles for such provisions because they are
considered must-pass legislation on which the President and Congress eventually
must reach agreement. Such provisions have been included both in interim and full-
year continuing resolutions.
House Rules XXI, Clause 2, and XXII, Clause 5, prohibit legislative provisions
or unauthorized appropriations33 in general appropriations measures, but these
restrictions do not apply to continuing resolutions. (The House typically adopts
special rules restricting amendments to continuing resolutions, in part for this
reason.) Comparable Senate restrictions, in Senate Rule XVI, on legislative
provisions and unauthorized appropriations do apply in the case of continuing
resolutions.
30 P.L. 102-266.
31 P.L. 97-92.
32 P.L. 104-91, P.L. 104-92, and P.L. 104-94.
33 Unauthorized appropriations are funds in an appropriations measure for agencies or
programs whose authorization has expired or was never granted, or whose budget authority
exceeds the ceiling authorized (for more information, see CRS Report 97-684, The
Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction, by Sandy Streeter).

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CRS-14
Substantive provisions in continuing resolutions have included comprehensive
measures that establish major new policies and amend permanent provisions of law,
such as omnibus crime control legislation (in FY1985). They have also included
narrower provisions focused on temporary or one-time problems, such as providing
a temporary extension of statutory authority to pay for travel and transportation
benefits for family members of military personnel injured during operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan (in FY2005). These provisions vary in length from less than one
page to more than 200 pages (in the case, for example, of the Comprehensive Crime
Control Act of 1984).
Funding Gaps
Over the years, delay in the enactment of regular appropriations measures and
continuing resolutions after the beginning of the fiscal year has led to periods during
which appropriations authority has lapsed. Such periods generally are referred to as
funding gaps. Depending on the number of regular appropriations that have yet to
be enacted, a funding gap can affect either a few departments or agencies or most of
the federal government.
Funding gaps are not a recent phenomenon. In fact, by the 1960s and 1970s,
delay in the enactment of appropriation acts, including continuing resolutions,
beyond the beginning of the fiscal year had become almost routine. Notably,
according to a 1981 GAO report, “most Federal managers continued to operate
during periods of funding gaps while minimizing all nonessential operations and
obligations, believing that Congress did not intend that agencies close down while
the appropriations measures were being passed.”34
On April 25, 1980, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued a formal opinion
which stated in general that maintaining nonessential operations in the absence of
appropriations was not permitted under the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341), and
that the Justice Department would enforce the criminal sanctions provided for under
the act against future violations.35
In another opinion issued on January 16, 1981, the Attorney General outlined
the activities that could be continued by federal agencies during a funding gap.
Under that opinion, the only excepted activities include (1) those involving the
orderly termination of agency functions; (2) emergencies involving the safety of
human life or the protection of property; or (3) activities authorized by law.36
Activities authorized by law, for example, include funding for entitlement programs,
such as Social Security and Medicare, that are permanently appropriated. In 1990,
34 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Funding Gaps Jeopardize Federal Government
Operations, GAO/PAD-81-31, Mar. 3, 1981, p. i.
35 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Memorandum to the
President, Apr. 25, 1980, reprinted in Funding Gaps Jeopardize Federal Government
Operations, App. IV, pp. 63-67.
36 For additional information on the 1981 opinion of the Attorney General, and on the
excepted activities outlined in that opinion, see U.S. General Accounting Office, Principles
of Federal Appropriations Law: Vol. II, GAO/OGC-92-13, Dec. 1992, pp. 6-92 — 6-99.

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CRS-15
the Antideficiency Act was amended to clarify that “the term ‘emergencies involving
the safety of human life or the protection of property’ does not include ongoing,
regular functions of government the suspension of which would not imminently
threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property.”37
Since 1981, whenever delay in the appropriations process has led to periods of
lapsed appropriations, federal agencies and departments lacking appropriations
generally have shut down all nonessential operations and furloughed nonessential
employees (although provisions of law have been enacted to ratify obligations and
pay employees retroactively). During late 1995 and early 1996, there were two
funding gaps — one lasting 21 days and the other lasting six (including weekends).
From 1981 through 1994, there were nine funding gaps, varying in duration from
only one to three days, some of which occurred over weekends. Most of these gaps
occurred after the beginning of the fiscal year, meaning that they were not caused
because of a failure to enact an initial continuing resolution, but because of delay in
enacting a further extension.
On August 16, 1995, Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger, in a
memorandum for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
stated that “the 1981 Opinion continues to be a sound analysis of the legal authorities
respecting government operations when Congress has failed to enact regular
appropriations bills or a continuing resolution to cover a hiatus between regular
appropriations.”38 The 1990 amendment, he maintained, basically served to confirm
the appropriateness of the 1981 opinion.
37 P.L. 101-508 Section 13213(b), 31 U.S.C. 1342.
38 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Government Operations in the Event
of a Lapse in Appropriations, Memorandum for Alice Rivlin, Director, Office of
Management and Budget, Aug. 16, 1995.

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CRS-16
For Additional Reading
Congressional Document
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on the Budget. The Whole and the Parts:
Piecemeal and Integrated Approaches to Congressional Budgeting. Committee
print, prepared for the Task Force on the Budget Process by Allen Schick, 100th
Congress, 1st session. CP-3. Washington: GPO, 1987.
CRS Reports
Budget and Appropriations Process.
CRS Report 97-947, The Appropriations Process and the Congressional Budget Act,
by James V. Saturno.
CRS Report 97-684, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction,
by Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report RS20095, The Congressional Budget Process: A Brief Overview, by
James V. Saturno.
CRS Report RL32614, Duration of Continuing Resolutions in Recent Years, by
Robert Keith.
CRS Report RL30619, Examples of Legislative Provisions in Omnibus
Appropriations Acts, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report RS20348, Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report 98-721, Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report 97-865, Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process, by James
V. Saturno.
CRS Report RL30339, Preventing Federal Government Shutdowns: Proposals for
an Automatic Continuing Resolution, by Robert Keith.
FY2007 Regular Appropriations Bills.
CRS Report RL33412, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2007 Appropriations,
by Jim Monke, Coordinator.
CRS Report RL33405, Defense: FY2007 Authorization and Appropriations, by
Stephen Daggett.
CRS Report RL33563, District of Columbia: Appropriations for 2007, by Eugene
Boyd and David P. Smole.

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CRS-17
CRS Report RL33346, Energy and Water Development: FY2007 Appropriations, by
Carl E. Behrens, Coordinator.
CRS Report RL33420, Foreign Operations (House)/State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs (Senate): FY2007 Appropriations, by Larry Nowels, Connie
Veillette, and Susan B. Epstein.
CRS Report RL33428, Homeland Security Department: FY2007 Appropriations, by
Jennifer E. Lake and Blas Nunez-Neto, Coordinators.
CRS Report RL33399, Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2007
Appropriations, by Carol Hardy Vincent and Susan Boren, Coordinators.
CRS Report RL33576, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2007
Appropriations, by Paul M. Irwin.
CRS Report RL33379, Legislative Branch: FY2007 Appropriations, by Paul E.
Dwyer and Ida A. Brudnick.
CRS Report RL33427, Military Construction, Military Quality of Life and Veterans
Affairs: FY2007 Appropriations, by Daniel H. Else, Paul J. Graney, and Sidath
Viranga Panangala.
CRS Report RL33470, Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies
(House)/ Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (Senate): FY2007
Appropriations, by Susan B. Epstein and M. Angeles Villarreal, Coordinators.
CRS Report RL33551, Transportation, the Treasury, Housing and Urban
Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Executive Office of
the President, and Independent Agencies (TTHUD): FY2007 Appropriations,
by David Randall Peterman and John Frittelli, Coordinators.
Other Sources
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Funding Gaps Jeopardize Federal
Government Operations. GAO/PAD-81-31. March 3, 1981.
——. Principles of Federal Appropriations Law: Vol. II, 2nd ed. GAO/OGC-92-13.
December1992, chap. 8, “Continuing Resolutions.”

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