Money talks. But in Washington, D.C., sometimes the money just stutters. If you've ever scrolled through a news feed in late September and seen pundits panicking about a "government shutdown," you've probably run into a specific acronym that sounds like a boring clerical error: CR.
So, what is CR in government?
Basically, it's a "Continuing Resolution." It is a temporary bandage for a bleeding budget. When Congress fails to pass the twelve formal appropriations bills that actually fund the federal government—which, let’s be honest, happens almost every year now—they use a CR to keep the lights on. It’s a short-term fix that tells agencies, "Keep spending exactly what you spent last year until we figure this out." No raises. No new projects. Just survival.
The Mechanics of a Continuing Resolution
Budgeting should be simple. The fiscal year ends on September 30. By October 1, there should be a new budget.
But it’s rarely that clean.
A CR is a "joint resolution" passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the President. It’s legally binding. Without it, or a full budget, the government loses the legal authority to spend money. That leads to a shutdown. National parks close. Passport offices stall. Federal employees get sent home without a paycheck (though they eventually get back pay).
Technically, a CR is a "stopgap." It maintains the status quo. If the Department of Defense was spending at a certain rate on September 30, a CR allows them to continue at that same rate on October 1.
The catch? It’s restrictive.
Imagine trying to run a business where you aren't allowed to buy new equipment or hire anyone new, and you can only spend exactly what you did last month, even if your rent just went up. That’s the reality for federal managers under a CR. It creates a massive amount of "fiscal uncertainty," a phrase the Government Accountability Office (GAO) uses constantly to describe the chaos this causes.
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Why We Use Them Instead of Real Budgets
Politics is messy. Honestly, it’s mostly theater.
The "regular order" of business requires the House and Senate to agree on specific dollar amounts for everything from cancer research to fighter jets. In a polarized climate, getting 218 votes in the House and 60 in the Senate is nearly impossible for a full-year budget.
So they kick the can.
A CR is the ultimate "kick the can" tool. It allows politicians to avoid a politically disastrous shutdown without actually agreeing on the hard stuff. Since 1977, Congress has only managed to pass all its spending bills on time four times. Four. That’s a failing grade in any other universe.
Sometimes a CR lasts for a week. Sometimes it lasts for six months. In some nightmare scenarios, Congress passes a "full-year CR," which basically means they gave up on budgeting entirely for that year and just copy-pasted the previous year’s numbers.
The Concept of "Anomalies"
Wait. What if something urgent happens while a CR is active?
What if there’s a sudden hurricane or a new war?
This is where "anomalies" come in. When writing a Continuing Resolution, lawmakers can insert specific exceptions. An anomaly allows a specific program to spend more money than it did last year or start a project that is technically "new."
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For example, if the Census Bureau needs to ramp up hiring for the decennial count, a standard CR would break their workflow. Congress would have to write an "anomaly" into the CR text to give them the extra cash. Without those specific lines of text, the agency is frozen in time.
The Real-World Cost of Budgeting by CR
It sounds like a harmless bureaucratic quirk. It isn't.
Ask a Navy Admiral what a CR does to ship maintenance. They’ll tell you it’s a disaster. Because they can’t sign new contracts for multi-year repairs under a short-term CR, work gets delayed. Those delays cost taxpayers millions in "re-start" fees later.
The GAO has documented that CRs lead to:
- Delayed hiring: Agencies wait months to fill critical roles because they don't know if they'll have the money in January.
- Wasted time: Budget officers spend thousands of hours re-calculating budgets for two-week increments instead of doing their actual jobs.
- Vendor stress: Small businesses that provide services to the government often go months without knowing if their contracts will be renewed.
It's a "poverty mindset" applied to the world's largest economy.
Is a CR the Same as an Omnibus?
Nope.
You’ll hear these terms thrown around together, but they are different animals.
An Omnibus is a giant, 2,000-page bill that actually contains the final, negotiated spending for the year. It’s the "real" budget, just all mashed together into one monster document.
A CR is just a placeholder. It’s the "hold my beer" of legislation. It says, "We aren't ready yet, so just keep doing what you’re doing."
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Usually, a series of CRs eventually leads to an Omnibus. Or, if things go really south, it leads to a shutdown.
How to Track if a CR is Coming
You don't need to be a C-SPAN junkie to see this coming. Just look at the calendar.
If it’s September 25 and the news is talking about "partisan gridlock," a CR is almost certainly being drafted in a back room somewhere. The leadership in the House and Senate will usually "hotline" the bill, rushing it to the floor at the last minute to prevent the clock from hitting midnight on September 30.
Keep an eye on the "expiration date." Every CR has one. It’s a "sunset provision." If the CR expires on December 11, then December 11 becomes the new "shutdown cliff."
We’ve seen years where there were five or six CRs in a row. It’s exhausting. It’s inefficient. But in a divided government, it is the only way the machine stays greased.
Actionable Steps for Navigating CR Seasons
If you work for the government, or a company that sells to it, you need a strategy. Don't just wait for the headlines.
- Review Contract Clauses: Check if your federal contracts have "Availability of Funds" clauses. These allow the government to cancel or pause work if a CR doesn't provide enough coverage.
- Monitor the GAO "Green Book": This is the bible of federal spending rules. It explains exactly what an agency can and cannot do during a "funding lapse" or a CR.
- Identify "New Starts": If your project is considered a "new start," it will likely be frozen during a CR. Plan your milestones for the second or third quarter of the fiscal year when a full budget (or Omnibus) is more likely to be in place.
- Watch for "Clean" vs. "Loaded" CRs: A "clean" CR just extends funding. A "loaded" CR has controversial policy riders attached (like border wall funding or social policy changes). Loaded CRs are much more likely to fail and lead to a shutdown.
Understanding what is CR in government isn't just about political trivia. It's about knowing how the largest spender on earth manages its wallet—or fails to. When the "stopgap" becomes the standard, the entire system slows down. It's a clunky, frustrating way to run a country, but for now, it's the only tool Washington has left in the shed.
Be ready for the next "cliff." They happen like clockwork. Knowing the rules of the CR game keeps you from being surprised when the headlines start screaming about a shutdown that might only be a few hours away.