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How many continuing resolutions has the U.S. Senate voted on since 2017?
Executive Summary
Since the assembled sources do not record a single definitive tally of Senate votes on continuing resolutions (CRs) from 2017 through November 6, 2025, the best-supported conclusion is that the exact number is not directly stated in the supplied documents; available data allow only estimates and partial tallies. Combining the historical totals and averages reported in the materials yields a plausible range of roughly 30–45 continuing resolutions considered or enacted across that period, but the sources disagree on counting method and scope (roll-call votes vs. enacted measures), so a precise Senate-vote count requires checking official Senate roll-call records for each CR [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why advocates claim “many” CRs — the long-term totals that feed the impression of escalation
The simplest claim across the materials is that Congress increasingly relies on stopgap spending measures. One source reports that 138 continuing resolutions were enacted from fiscal 1998 through 2025, which frames the broader narrative that CRs are common and recurring [1]. That same narrative is reinforced by a separate piece that averages about five CRs per year since 1998, implying a steady cadence that, when projected forward, produces dozens of CRs in any recent eight- to ten-year slice [2]. The bold statistical framing—a multi-decade cumulative total and a five-per-year average—explains why analysts, lawmakers, and press characterized reliance on CRs as a structural feature of modern appropriations. These aggregated figures are useful for context but do not by themselves give a year-by-year Senate roll-call count for 2017–2025.
2. What government auditors actually documented — the GAO snapshot and its limits
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report supplies a rigorous but bounded window into CR usage: it documents 47 continuing resolutions enacted from fiscal 2010 through 2022 and analyzes administrative impacts of CRs on agencies [3]. That GAO figure is a solid empirical anchor for the 2010s and shows significant CR activity before 2023, but it stops in 2022 and counts enacted CRs rather than every Senate procedural vote. The GAO also highlights operational consequences—agency inefficiencies and constrained management—providing context that CR frequency matters beyond headline counts. Using the GAO snapshot plus longer-term totals indicates a nontrivial number of CRs after 2017, but the report alone cannot enumerate Senate roll-call votes on CRs from 2017 through late 2025.
3. Roll-call fragments from 2024–2025 — concrete votes but incomplete coverage
Senate roll-call records supplied for late sessions show multiple specific CR-related votes in 2024 and 2025 (for example, H.R. 10545 and H.R. 9747 in late 2024 and 2025), and the textual roll-call compilations document cloture and passage votes on several CRs [4] [5]. These entries prove the Senate voted on CRs in those years and provide precise vote totals for those measures, offering proof points that can be counted. However, the items here are episodic: they confirm votes for particular CRs but do not form a contiguous, comprehensive list for the entire 2017–2025 span. Relying solely on the supplied roll-call excerpts therefore yields a conservative partial count and risks understating the total.
4. How different counting rules produce divergent answers — enacted CRs vs. Senate roll-call events
Disagreement across sources largely stems from which events are counted. Some documents tally enacted CRs across fiscal years [1] [3]; others reference Senate votes, including failed or procedural votes, amendments, or cloture motions [5]. Counting enacted CRs that became law produces a lower figure than counting every Senate roll-call related to CRs, which can include multiple votes on the same CR. The five-per-year average [2] implies about 40 CRs from 2017–2025, while GAO’s constrained 2010–2022 count [3] and the 1998–2025 aggregate [1] are consistent with a multi-decade pattern but not a precise Senate-vote tally. The choice of definition therefore shifts any numerical answer materially.
5. What’s needed to close the gap — how to produce a definitive Senate-vote count
To move from estimates to a definitive number, one must compile a chronological list of every continuing resolution introduced or amended since the start of 2017 and then cross-check Senate roll-call records to count every Senate vote specifically tied to those CRs (passage, cloture, amendment votes). The sources point to where to begin—Congressional records, Senate roll-call databases, and the statutory list of enacted CRs—but none of the provided items supplies that exhaustive crosswalk [1] [3] [4]. A precise answer is achievable by systematic review of official Senate roll-call archives for 2017–2025; absent that exercise, the best-supported range remains roughly 30–45 CR-related Senate votes, with the caveat that different counting rules will widen or narrow that interval [2] [3].