Fact Sheet reformatted from Indivisible.Org (National Organization)
The federal government’s funding runs from October 1st through September 30th of the following year. This is called the fiscal year. If September 30th comes and Congress hasn’t passed all of its appropriations bills, the federal government shuts down until they get their act together.If Congress is simply taking too long and the September 30th deadline is looming, MoC’s can give themselves an extension called a continuing resolution (or “CR”), maintaining current funding levels until they can actually pass spending bills. [Important note: all of this refers to discretionary spending, not mandatory spending. You can learn more about this distinction in our appropriations primer found here.]