FY25 Appropriations Politics: Why a Potential Full-Year CR is Relevant to the Fight over Trump Impounding Funds
Matt Glassman | March 6, 2025
On Friday, President Trump endorsed a full-year CR for the FY25 appropriations, which will likely end the appropriations process for this fiscal year. After its failure to enact full year appropriations bills by October 1, Congress has passed a series of continuing resolutions (the first through December 20; a second through March 14) to keep the government operating on a temporary basis. The politics that led us to this point have been a mix of the very familiar for those watching over the last decade and some brand-new dynamics surrounding the Trump administration. Here’s a rundown of where we stand:
Historical context:
The annual appropriations process is rarely completed on time—it has been almost thirty years since all 12 regular appropriations acts were signed into law by October 1. This cycle was no different, and by some measures worse. Only seven of the twelve regular appropriations bills made it to the floor of the House (and one failed on passage), and none have been considered on the Senate floor. Since FY2010, only six appropriations seasons have dragged into March on continuing resolutions. Appropriators in both chambers held out hope that the 12 regular bills could be passed (likely as an omnibus) prior to the March deadline for the current CR, but that was probably misplaced optimism.
What is a Full-Year Continuing Resolution?
We typically think of Continuing Resolutions (CRs) as appropriations laws that provide temporary funding to continue government programs and operations until regular annual appropriations acts are enacted. In most cases, CRs are characterized by (1) a duration until they expire; (2) a funding rate, usually based on prior year funding; (3) anomalies, which are provisions that provide specific new levels of funding for certain particular programs or activities; and (4) a prohibition on “new starts,” programs or activities not funded in the previous year.
A full-year CR is somewhat different. First, since the intention is to provide funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, it’s not temporary in duration. Second, a full-year CR may use a variety of language to provide funding to agencies. Some full-year CRs resemble the temporary CRs, providing budget authority with formulas based on prior year funding and anomalies to cover accounts Congress wishes to adjust. Other full-year CRs have included the full text of the annual appropriations acts, with adjusted numbers where desired, and therefore look more like regular appropriations acts or omnibus legislation. A number of full-year CRs have used a hybrid approach, with some departments/bills funded via formula and anomaly, and others with the full text of the annual appropriations acts. New starts may or may not be prohibited in a full-year CR, depending on the language used and policy preference of Congress. A full year CR can include anywhere from one to all appropriations bills, and have ranged in length from almost a full calendar year to just a few months. Most were enacted early in the appropriations process established by the Budget Act, with twelve of the fifteen full-year CRs occurring between FY1978 and FY1992. The last time Congress passed a full-year CR was 2013, which included the full-text of 5 of the annual appropriations acts, and then formulaic and anomaly provisions for the other 7 bills.
Why Did This Happen: The Old
The failure of the FY25 appropriations process resembles many of the previous appropriations cycles of the past 15 years. Appropriations bills are subject to debate in the Senate, and thus require 60 votes to end a filibuster by the minority. This guarantees they will be bipartisan compromises. But with a narrow House majority, Republican leaders have had difficulty passing any partisan appropriations bills; conservative members of the conference are often opposed to voting for any appropriations legislation put forward by leadership, and appeasing their concerns risks subjecting moderate Republicans to tough votes. With both partisan and compromise bills likely to disrupt the conference, leaders have been hesitant to even begin the process.
Republican Speakers Boehner, Ryan, McCarthy and Johnson have ultimately all resorted to negotiating with Democrats to find the votes for CRs and appropriations bills in the House, and in recent years McCarthy and Johnson have even resorted to the suspension process to circumvent their inability to find a partisan majority to bring appropriations bills to the floor. This has allowed them to pass CRs and omnibus legislation, but only at the cost of endorsing compromises that anger their conservative members, and directly cost McCarthy his job.
Why did This Happen: The New
This year, President Trump has introduced a new wrinkle to the process: the threat of impoundment, which is the practice of presidents refusing to spend money that was appropriated. While there is wide agreement that presidents lack the constitutional authority to impound funds and Congress passed specific legislation prohibiting it, OMB director Vought and, to a lesser degree president Trump, have expressed the belief that the president has such authority.
The prospect of potential impoundment of funds has serious power consequences for Congress within the separation of powers system. But in the short-term, it creates an entirely different problem: there’s no way to bargain with the president about appropriations laws if he potentially has the power to ignore the law after it is negotiated and passed. Democrats have sought to put language into any omnibus reinforcing the lack of impoundment authority, but Republicans have refused. Some liberal observers have proposed shutting down the government over the issue, but that appears unpalatable to Democratic leaders, who fear losing a shutdown. Consequently, we are likely in a situation where Democrats refuse to negotiate an omnibus that excludes such language, but will vote for a full-year CR rather than shut the government down.
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