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Fact check: What are the key provisions of the 2025 continuing resolution?
Executive Summary
The 2025 continuing resolution (CR) broadly maintains FY2024 funding levels across all 12 regular appropriations through the end of FY2025, while carving out specific exceptions and “anomalies” for certain accounts and program authorities. The measure sets total discretionary base funding near $1.600 trillion with notable defense/nondefense splits, yields modest long‑term discretionary savings but a small net deficit increase due to revenue and mandatory changes, and has become the focal point of urgent political debate as stakeholders press for a clean CR to reopen the government [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why the CR mostly freezes spending — and what that actually means for agencies
The core design of the Full‑Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025, is to continue most FY2024 funding decisions through FY2025 by extending appropriations for all twelve regular bills until the end of the fiscal year. This means agencies operate under prior year levels unless the text specifies otherwise, preserving program continuity and avoiding immediate across‑the‑board changes to operations. The statute also explicitly excludes new Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending unless specified, which halts many earmarks that were in FY2024 [1]. For agency budget offices, the CR simplifies near‑term planning but constrains new initiatives and often forces one‑year deferrals of priorities that would require fresh appropriations.
2. The headline numbers: how much money and where it’s aimed
Congressional Budget Office scoring and legislative text place overall base discretionary budget authority for FY2025 at about $1.600 trillion, with roughly $893 billion allocated toward defense and $708 billion for nondefense activities. These numbers reflect the CR’s role in setting topline caps and distributing funds under those ceilings by continuing existing appropriations language [2]. Policymakers and analysts are watching that defense/nondefense split closely because it shapes procurement, readiness, and domestic program ceilings; debates over longer extensions or targeted changes often center on whether a continuing resolution at these levels will hamstring Pentagon plans or preserve stability for domestic agencies.
3. Spending reductions, deficit math, and the longer fiscal signal
Scoring by budget analysts finds the CR would reduce discretionary spending by about $54 billion through FY2034, a multi‑year reduction driven by baseline effects and certain rescissions in the bill. However, the net fiscal effect is smaller than that headline because the package includes revenue losses tied to rescinded IRS funding and mandatory program adjustments that do not generate equivalent outlay savings, producing an estimated net deficit increase of roughly $7 billion in the near term [3]. This combination signals that while the CR trims projected discretionary outlays, the structure produces limited deficit improvement once interacting revenue and mandatory program offsets are accounted for.
4. Exceptions, anomalies and programmatic winners or losers
Although the CR is broadly a freeze, it contains targeted anomalies — explicit deviations from the general funding continuation — and extensions of expiring authorities that alter funding or policy for specific accounts. The legislative summary emphasizes that anomalies are used to adjust funding for particular activities or to extend or amend existing law, meaning some programs may see tailored changes despite the overall freeze [1]. The explicit omission of most Community Project Funding in FY2025 also means many locality‑specific projects funded in FY2024 will not continue absent separate action, creating winners and losers depending on whether a given account was singled out for exception [1].
5. Politics: pressure for a “clean” CR and competing GOP proposals
The continuing resolution has become a political flashpoint as groups representing federal employees and unions press for a “clean CR” to reopen government operations and pay workers, with more than 300 organizations publicly supporting such an approach [4]. Republican caucuses remain divided: some propose extended funding through December 2026 to provide multi‑year stability, while defense hawks argue against long extensions that could limit Pentagon flexibility and instead favor a shorter extension into January [5]. Senate leaders have framed passage as straightforward if a small number of members cross party lines, underscoring that the stalemate is political rather than technical, with a potential rapid resolution if key votes are secured [6] [5].
6. Shutdown risks, continuity, and practical implications for the public
The CR’s passage or failure directly determines whether non‑essential discretionary functions continue. A failure to pass continuing appropriations would trigger a government shutdown, suspending many discretionary services while preserving essential public safety functions and mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare [7]. Passage of the CR restores pay and operations for affected federal workers and reinstates funding flows, but the law’s exclusions — notably the withholding of most CPF/CDS — mean some community projects and newly proposed activities will remain stalled. The measure thus trades short‑term operational certainty for limits on new spending priorities and continues to be shaped by urgent political negotiations and stakeholder pressure. [1] [7] [4]