Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2025
The Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2025 would add a new provision (Sec. 1311) to chapter 13 of Title 31, United States Code, creating automatic continuing appropriations (automatic CRs) when the annual appropriations process has not yet enacted a regular funding bill. At the start of each fiscal year, if no appropriation act has been enacted and there is no existing continuing resolution, the bill would authorize funding to continue at a reduced rate (initially up to 94% of the prior year’s level or the most recently enacted continuing-appropriations level, whichever is lower). That rate would be gradually reduced by 1 percentage point every 90 days. The mechanism would persist until a regular appropriation bill or a CR becomes law, and funding would be apportioned in the same way as during the previous year. The act would also preserve current-law funding levels for certain mandatory programs (entitlements) and for Food and Nutrition Act activities, ensuring those programs maintain current program levels. The measure is designed to prevent a government shutdown by providing an automatic, temporary funding baseline, while requiring that funding decisions remain governed by existing law and prior-year allocations.
Key Points
- 1Automatic continuing appropriations trigger: If a new fiscal year begins and no appropriations bill has been enacted, and no continuing resolutions are in effect, automatic appropriations would kick in to fund programs at a reduced rate.
- 2Funding rate and step-down: The initial rate would be the lower of three options, not to exceed 94% of prior-year or earlier continuing-appropriations levels. After 90 days, the rate would decrease by 1 percentage point every 90 days, with these reductions extending beyond the end of the fiscal year.
- 3Entitlements and mandatory programs: For programs with mandatory funding (entitlements) or for Food and Nutrition Act activities, funding under this section would be set to maintain current program levels under existing law, rather than simply following the reduced CR rate.
- 4Timing and applicability: Amounts under this section would be available from the first day of a lapse in appropriations until a regular appropriation bill or a CR becomes law.
- 5Apportionment and administration: Agencies would apportion funds under this section in the same manner as they did in the previous year, and expenditures would be charged to the appropriate appropriation as soon as the regular or continuing funding becomes law.
- 6Conditions and limitations: The automatic CR would follow the same terms and conditions as the prior-year appropriation, and it would not apply if another law provides funding or explicitly prohibits continuation for that period. There are additional safeguards to prevent high initial spend-outs or early-grant distributions that would impinge on final funding prerogatives.