Continuing Resolutions: A Disgrace to Americans

The Deep Rot of Continuing Resolutions

Continuing resolutions are not just a bureaucratic nuisance, they are a cancer on American governance, exposing Congress’s refusal to do its job. This detailed dive into their history, the politicians fueling the fire, and the widespread harm they cause shows how a once practical tool has become a crutch for legislative cowardice. From their origins to today’s bloated disasters, resolutions reveal a system broken by bipartisan neglect, hurting citizens and weakening democracy.

The practice began modestly in 1798, when Congress used temporary funding to plug rare gaps in appropriations. These early measures were focused, covering specific needs for short periods. The modern habit took hold from fiscal year 1954 to 1976, with resolutions becoming yearly necessities as lawmakers dragged their feet. Under the July 1 fiscal year start, these were lean, a few pages tying funding to prior levels or simple formulas, with minimal extra provisions.

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, meant to sharpen budgeting by shifting the fiscal year to October 1 from fiscal year 1977, backfired spectacularly. That year, despite passing all thirteen bills on time, Congress still needed two resolutions, Public Law 94473 and Public Law 9516, for odds and ends. From fiscal year 1978, resolutions became relentless, used in all but three years through 2023, skipping only fiscal years 1989, 1995, and 1997. Over forty seven years, two hundred resolutions averaged one hundred thirty seven days of coverage yearly.

The 1980s turned resolutions into legislative monstrosities, packing in unrelated laws as Congress shirked regular processes. Fiscal year 1985’s resolution, a three hundred sixty three page beast, included the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, passed after four one to three day extensions, with a fifth covering eight bills for a full year at three hundred sixty five billion dollars. Fiscal year 1986’s House Joint Resolution 648, becoming Public Law 98473, sprawled over two hundred pages, embedding the Crime Control Act, emergency food aid, and child care provisions. Senate debates stalled over amendments like the Civil Rights Act of 1984, triggering a half day worker furlough. By fiscal year 2001, Congress set a grim record with twenty one resolutions over eighty two days, many one day fixes from Public Law 106401 to Public Law 106428.

Full year resolutions are particularly shameful, chaining agencies to obsolete budgets. Fiscal year 2007’s Public Law 1105 funded nine bills through September 30. Fiscal year 2011’s Public Law 11210, passed April 15, included the Defense Appropriations Act in full and formulaic funding for eleven others. Fiscal year 2013’s Public Law 1136, enacted March 26, merged five bills’ full texts with seven formulaic provisions. Fiscal year 2025’s House Resolution 1968, passed March 14, locked in funding through September 30 after multiple short term patches.

Resolutions work by pegging funds to prior year levels, prorated by duration, often using the lowest of House, Senate, or presidential requests. They bar new initiatives, limiting spending to existing programs. Anomalies tweak specific accounts, like Public Law 11233’s twenty nine million one hundred thirty thousand dollars for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Some latch onto other bills, like fiscal year 2019’s Public Law 115245, combining Defense and Labor Health Human Services Education acts. Others carry riders, like Public Law 11233 renewing Burmese import bans or Public Law 116159 extending flood insurance.

Funding gaps from botched resolutions spark shutdowns, defying the Antideficiency Act. A 1980 Attorney General opinion banned obligations during gaps except for shutdown costs, leading to Office of Management and Budget Bulletin 8014 mandating contingency plans. The fiscal year 1980 eleven day gap delayed one hundred thousand GI bill checks, forty eight million dollars in housing subsidies, black lung payments for twenty two thousand, food programs for one point six million in two states, and supplemental security income, costing one to two million in health trust interest and one point one million in administrative expenses. Fiscal year 1996 saw two gaps, mid November and December to January, with thirteen resolutions including partials like Public Law 10469 for welfare and veterans. Fiscal year 2014’s sixteen day shutdown included Public Law 11339’s Pay Our Military Act. Fiscal year 2018’s three day gap was patched in Public Law 115123, and fiscal year 2019’s thirty five days in Public Law 1165.

Republicans and Democrats alike perpetuate this disgrace. Senator Dan Quayle blasted the 1980s process, slamming hundreds of amendments as political theater, yet Republicans added riders. Representative Barber Conable Junior admitted his party thrived on crises, delaying budgets through power plays. In 2025, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s resolution for fiscal year 2026, through November 21, was rejected by the Senate. Senator Rand Paul fought the March 2025 resolution, pushing for foreign aid cuts, while Republicans backed it to enable Trump’s plans. Trump and Russ Vought fueled crises with rescissions and Medicaid cuts, forcing resolutions to stabilize health care.

Democrats play the same game, decrying dysfunction while voting for resolutions. Representatives John Dingell and Norman Mineta pushed automatic resolutions in the 1980s, acknowledging failure but offering no cure. Claude Pepper sought reports, but Democratic leadership kept resolutions flowing. In September 2025, Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray’s resolution through October 31 extended tax credits and security funds to avert a Republican shutdown. Chuck Schumer and Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maggie Hassan, Gary Peters, Brian Schatz, Jeanne Shaheen, and Independent Angus King backed the March 2025 resolution to limit Trump’s leverage. Opposing Democrats like Jacky Rosen, Tammy Duckworth, Elissa Slotkin, and Patty Murray flagged program risks. Hakeem Jeffries criticized the Senate, but Democrats supported thirteen resolutions under Biden, as Representative Butler Derrick noted resolutions gut committee authority.

The fallout hits hard. Resolutions freeze funding, ignoring inflation or new needs, stalling Education Department grants for black colleges, Health and Human Services cooling aid, Agriculture’s rural rentals, and Commerce’s surveys. Military families lose daycare, recruitment falters, and food aid shrinks. Shutdowns cost billions, as in 1980, and resolutions become vehicles for sneaky policies, eroding trust. Agencies face hiring freezes, contract delays, and lost productivity, while citizens lose services. The causes are political gridlock, budget complexity, and lazy packaging, as seen in the 1981 Omnibus Reconciliation Act. Automatic resolutions would only deepen this mess, raising constitutional issues.

Congress must end this cycle of failure. Continuing resolutions are a betrayal of the public, and only bold action to restore proper budgeting can fix this broken system.