Continuing Resolutions Hinder Federal Program Operations: How Three Programs Cope

Federal agencies receive funding through the annual appropriations process. If appropriation agreements are not reached and enacted by the beginning of a fiscal year, Congress and the president can pass CRs to continue funding the government. According to GAO, CRs were enacted for 43 of the last 46 fiscal years.  From FY 2010 through FY 2022, 47 CRs were used.

GAO studied the impact of CRs on specific programs within Agriculture, Education, and HHS: USDA’s Section 521 Rural Rental Assistance Program, Education’s Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Formula Grants, and HHS’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

GAO found select agencies and programs were able to continue operations and services during CRs but experienced some inefficiencies, limitations, and administrative burdens.  For example, HHS officials stated that resources are diverted from program mission activities to plan for a potential lapse in appropriations before each fiscal year-end or the end of each CR.  Also, during CRs they must update and recalculate formulas for the grants which is time-consuming and creates an administrative burden.

USDA officials reported a slow in hiring decisions when operating under a CR. And at Education, there are limited funds for traveling to grantee locations during CRs and the uncertainty around funding levels hampers program planning.   

From a program beneficiary standpoint, CRs also create funding uncertainty and administrative burden. For the PBI grant program, delays created by CRs in Education’s ability to calculate funding amounts and disburse grants hampered recipients’ abilities to plan and budget for their school programs and staffing.

Although CRs create challenges, due to risk mitigation strategies developed over the years by the three agencies, programs were able to continue operations and provide services without significant disruptions. Factors contributing to their ability to continue operations include prior experience with CRs, program funding stability from year to year, and the ability to use budgetary flexibilities.

For the LIHEAP at HHS, the agency can request and receive an exception apportionment which makes 90% of the previous year’s funds available to grantees at the beginning of the next fiscal year, instead of the standard apportionment provided during the CR. Also, some LIHEAP grantees can access additional funding, such as state utility funds or state budget funding. These alternative avenues for funding help grantees if funding is disrupted at the beginning of the fiscal year.