Fiscal year (FY) 2025 begins October 1, and Congress finds itself again scrambling to assemble a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a funding lapse and consequently, a government shutdown. Discretionary programs need funding appropriated, and some mandatory grant programs need to be reauthorized or extended to receive new funding. Extensions can be difficult to address separately and in short order, so are often attached to CRs.
Generally, a government shutdown or mandatory funding lapse in an election year is unlikely. That said, Congress is plagued by policy differences and restricted by discretionary spending caps and other provisions that it set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA; P.L. 118-5). Already, a six-month CR proposed in the House has failed to pass.
This brief discusses issues surrounding the FY 2025 appropriations process, including:
- What role the FRA will play in negotiating a CR, and eventually, final FY 2025 appropriations
- How discretionary and appropriated mandatory programs would be affected by a government shutdown
- How other mandatory programs would operate if not extended or reauthorized