Last Updated March 14, 2025

The Federal Government’s Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) began on October 1, 2024, but Congress has yet to fully appropriate the government. Given the normal complexities of appropriating the government on time and the upcoming 2024 elections in November, it seemed highly likely that Congress would need to fund the government on a temporary basis via one or more continuing resolutions (CR). The federal government operated on a CR through December 20, 2024, and now operates on a second CR that funds the government through March 14, 2025. Like FY2024, spending parameters for FY2025 will be subject to limitations outlined in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023, also known as the Bipartisan Debt Deal, including a cap on discretionary spending of $1.606T and an automatic restriction to discretionary spending in the event of a CR lasting beyond January 1, 2025.

Updates

You can track the status of both chambers’ work to complete all 12 appropriations bills here. NABL will continue to keep members informed as more becomes available. [New Updates Highlighted]

• 3/13/2025: In a floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) encourages his caucus to vote in support of the CR, indicating that while the package is flawed, avoiding a federal government shutdown is his top priority. He argued that a federal government shutdown would embolden President Donald Trump and Elon Musk who have already made significant cuts to federal agencies. The move, which has notably angered liberal members of Congress and progressive groups, likely clears the way for a 7-month CR to pass the Senate sometime Friday. The situation remains subject to change.

• 3/12/2025: Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) becomes the first Senate Democrat to indicate his support for the House-passed CR. Senate leadership would need at least 8 Democrats to support the package to invoke cloture and avoid a filibuster.
• 3/11/2025: The House of Representatives voted 217 to 213 to pass the 7-month CR outlined in the bullet below. All but one Republican voted for the measure, and all but one Democrat voted against the measure. The measure now heads to the Senate where it remains unclear if a sufficient number of Democrats will vote to advance the measure passed a cloture vote.
• 3/8/2025: House Republican leadership released a proposed new CR which would fund the government via a stopgap measure for the remaining seven months of FY2025. The measure would add significant funding to select homeland security and defense programs, while cutting approximately $13 billion in nondefense funding. President Trump endorsed the measure, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) aims to put it up for a floor vote on Tuesday evening. Congressional Democrats, who had been hoping for a bipartisan agreement to address federal funding prior to the lapse of the third CR coming this Friday, have unified in opposition to the measure.
• 12/21/24: The Senate passes the CR in the early morning of December 21, 2024. President Biden signs the package into law later that day.

• 12/20/24: House leadership released a third version of a CR that notably does not include a provision to address the federal debt ceiling. Congressional Republicans make an intraparty agreement to address the debt ceiling through a reconciliation bill early next year. The House passed this third CR proposal.
• 12/19/24: A House voted on the CR package approved by President-Elect Trump failed. Thirty-eight Republicans joined nearly all the Democrats in opposing the measure. House Republican leadership now moves toward crafting, and hopefully passing, a third option plan. Due to Congressional procedures, any successful effort to pass a stopgap spending package prior to when appropriations lapse (midnight on December 20, 2024) would almost certainly require critical support from House Democrats.
• 12/19/24: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced and President-Elect Trump endorses a revised CR package, which would fund the government temporarily through March 14, 2025; suspends the federal debt ceiling into January 2027; includes $110 billion in supplemental disaster relief; extends certain Farm Bill provisions for one year; and omits select healthcare policy changes included in the compromise package from earlier in the week. Notably for municipal market participants, the revised package maintains the provision to zero out the PAYGO scorecards, which would avoid additional sequestration of refund payments for select direct pay and tax credit bonds. The package also maintains provisions to fund the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland.
• 12/19/24: Amid opposition to the unveiled spending deal from conservatives and the incoming Trump Administration team, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly begins floating alternative deals that would include measures to temporarily extend the Farm Bill for one year as well as suspend the rapidly approaching debt ceiling by another two years.
• 12/17/24: Congressional leadership released legislative text for a second CR that would fund the government through March 14, 2025. The stopgap measure would also include approximately $100 billion in supplemental disaster aid, a 100% federal cost share for efforts to reconstruct the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Baltimore Harbor in Maryland, and zeros out outstanding balances on the PAYGO scorecards.
• 11/5/24: U.S. general elections held. Donald Trump is widely declared the winner and anticipated next President. The Senate and House were called in favor of Republicans in the following days and weeks.
• 9/26/24: President Biden signs the CR into law.
• 9/25/24: The Senate passes the CR mentioned and outlined in the bullet below. The measure heads to President Biden who is expected to sign the measure into law before appropriations lapse on October 1.
• 9/25/24: The House of Representatives clears a 12-week stopgap spending measure that would the federal government through December 20, 2024. The measure would punt any major spending battle until after the 2024 elections conclude. The CR largely at FY2024 levels, but provides additional funding for the Secret Service and FEMA disaster relief programs. It does not include a controversial measure to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. View Bill >
• 9/11/24: Amid growing opposition from House conservatives, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) scraps a plan to vote on a temporary funding measure that would largely maintain FY2024 spending numbers through March 28, six months into the next fiscal year. The measure would have also coupled a provision to mandate proof of citizenship to register to vote.
• 9/3/24: The Biden Administrations submits its request for anomalies to Congress in anticipation of an upcoming CR. Anomalies are carveouts in CRs for specific federal program line items to receive different funding levels due to their inability to properly function on a prior year’s fiscal spending levels. They typically include disaster aid and funding for programs that have cyclical funding needs (e.g. the decennial census leading into a calendar year ending in zero).
• 3/23/24: Congress passes the last of its FY2024 spending packages, nearly six months after the start of the fiscal year. NABL FY2024 Tracker >
• 3/11/24: The White House published President Biden’s funding requests for the next fiscal year. The large package includes a request for $7.3 trillion in spending and proposed major tax law changes. Read NABL Summary >

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