The term appropriations process refers to Congress’s annual development and consideration of appropriations legislation for each federal fiscal year running from October 1 through September 30. Spending controlled through the appropriations process—known as discretionary spending—generally consists of funding for the operations of most federal agencies and most of the programs, projects, and activities each carries out. Appropriations legislation also provides funding for certain programs controlled by laws other than appropriations acts, known as “appropriated entitlements” or “appropriated mandatories.” The appropriations process is designed around the development and consideration of 12 regular appropriations bills for each fiscal year. When some or all regular appropriations bills are not enacted before the October 1 start of the fiscal year, or at a later point in the fiscal year, Congress may enact continuing appropriations acts—often referred to as “continuing resolutions,” or CRs—to provide temporary funding until appropriations for the full fiscal year are enacted. For most fiscal years, Congress has completed the appropriations process by enacting the 12 regular appropriations bills either separately or as part of consolidated appropriations measures (often referred to as “omnibus” or “minibus” appropriations measures). On occasion, however, Congress has provided appropriations for some or all of the accounts included in the regular bills by enacting a CR lasting through the end of the fiscal year. These measures are often referred to as “full-year CRs” to distinguish them from short-term, or “interim,” CRs that cover only part of a fiscal year. This report addresses several frequently asked questions pertaining to full-year CRs, including those related to their development, content, and execution by federal agencies.
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