Funding gaps and government shutdowns haven’t always been a regular topic of conversation when Congress debates federal spending. The federal government shut down just after midnight Wednesday, making it the 21st funding gap and 11th shutdown since 1977, according to an analysis by the Get the Facts Data Team.A funding gap is a period of time during which funding for a project or activity is not enacted into law. This can be through a regular appropriations act or a continuing resolution. Funding gaps didn’t start occurring until the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 was passed, which established deadlines for passing federal budgets.Funding gaps and government shutdowns are two separate events. A funding gap occurs when there’s a lapse in funding, but a shutdown happens as a result of a funding gap when agencies begin closing and employees are furloughed.Prior to 1980, many government agencies continued to operate during a funding gap until Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued stricter interpretations, believing agencies “had no legal means to operate during a funding gap,” according to the House of Representatives.The shutdowns that occurred in the 1980s were partial or for only a few days, according to Jacob Smith, an assistant professor of political science at Fordham University in New York. The real era of shutdowns began in the 1990s.The process itself is very different now, too. Congress is supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills every year before the start of the fiscal year in October. The last time any of those appropriations bills were passed was in 2019.Instead, continuing resolutions are passed in lieu of the traditional process. When Congress fails to pass regular appropriations acts by the start of a fiscal year, a continuing resolution, or CR, may be used temporarily.The last time a continuing resolution was not needed was fiscal year 1997, when 13 out of 13 appropriations bills needed were enacted before the beginning of the next year.Congress is also pushing up against the deadline frequently — and not just in recent years. Smith believes the race to the deadline has been recent when compared to history, but has been going on for quite a while.“It's become common that they're really up against the clock,” Smith said. The Get the Facts Data Team identified continuing resolutions passed at the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 for the past ten years, not including the start of fiscal year 2025. These were enacted when regular appropriations bills were not passed by the deadline. The analysis did not include any of the other continuing resolutions passed in a given fiscal year. From fiscal year 1998 to 2025, an average of 4.8 were passed annually.The data team found that half were passed less than 12 hours before the deadline. Four of those instances were from fiscal years 2021 to 2024.The analysis compared the time of the last action by Congress, usually a vote or a motion to reconsider. The time the president signed the resolution into law was not incorporated in the analysis. When continuing resolutions and regular appropriations aren’t used to appropriate funding, Congress also passes omnibus or consolidated appropriations bills. These have played a larger role in recent decades as standalone regular appropriations bills aren’t passed.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
WASHINGTON —
Funding gaps and government shutdowns haven’t always been a regular topic of conversation when Congress debates federal spending.
The federal government shut down just after midnight Wednesday, making it the 21st funding gap and 11th shutdown since 1977, according to an analysis by the Get the Facts Data Team.
A funding gap is a period of time during which funding for a project or activity is not enacted into law. This can be through a regular appropriations act or a continuing resolution.
Funding gaps didn’t start occurring until the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 was , which established deadlines for passing federal budgets.
Funding gaps and government shutdowns are two separate events. A funding gap occurs when there’s a lapse in funding, but a shutdown happens as a result of a funding gap when agencies begin closing and employees are furloughed.
Prior to 1980, many government agencies continued to operate during a funding gap until Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued stricter interpretations, believing agencies “had no legal means to operate during a funding gap,” according to the
The shutdowns that occurred in the 1980s were partial or for only a few days, according to Jacob Smith, an assistant professor of political science at Fordham University in New York. The real era of shutdowns began in the 1990s.
The process itself is very different now, too. Congress is supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills every year before the start of the fiscal year in October. The last time any of those appropriations bills were passed was in 2019.
Instead, continuing resolutions are passed in lieu of the traditional process. When Congress fails to pass regular appropriations acts by the start of a fiscal year, a continuing resolution, or CR, may be used temporarily.
The last time a continuing resolution was not needed was fiscal year 1997, when 13 out of 13 appropriations bills needed were enacted before the beginning of the next year.
Congress is also pushing up against the deadline frequently — and not just in recent years. Smith believes the race to the deadline has been recent when compared to history, but has been going on for quite a while.
“It's become common that they're really up against the clock,” Smith said.
The Get the Facts Data Team identified continuing resolutions passed at the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 for the past ten years, not including the start of fiscal year 2025. These were enacted when regular appropriations bills were not passed by the deadline.
The analysis did not include any of the other continuing resolutions passed in a given fiscal year. From fiscal year 1998 to 2025, an average of 4.8 were passed annually.
The data team found that half were passed less than 12 hours before the deadline. Four of those instances were from fiscal years 2021 to 2024.
The analysis compared the time of the last action by Congress, usually a vote or a motion to reconsider. The time the president signed the resolution into law was not incorporated in the analysis.
When continuing resolutions and regular appropriations aren’t used to appropriate funding, Congress also passes omnibus or consolidated appropriations bills. These have played a larger role in recent decades as standalone regular appropriations bills aren’t passed.
