A continuing resolution, or CR, is a temporary measure Congress can use to fund the government for a limited time. CRs are typically used to buy time for lawmakers to enact longer-term spending measures.
The passage of a CR usually means the regular process of passing the 12 appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year has failed because of a standoff between political parties, or between Congress and the president.
While that’s not unusual, the Defense Department — as of mid-November 2019 — has operated under a CR for an average of 119 days per year during the last nine years, compared to an average of 32 days per year during the previous seven, according to the Congressional Research Service.
If Congress and the president fail to act, the government shuts down. Federal agencies are typically disrupted; nonessential operations are suspended, and federal employees and government contractors are left in limbo.
Because a CR will continue the funding rates of the previous year’s appropriations acts, it may bar an agency from starting or resuming a project for which there were no funds the previous year. Before the start of fiscal 2018, for example, the Pentagon identified 75 weapons programs that would experience delays because of the CR’s prohibition on starting new programs and because quantities would be restricted on 40 programs.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/11/18/what-is-a-continuing-resolution/
