The Enactment of Appropriations Measures During Lame Duck Sessions
Released: 2018-05-10T00:00:00

T he activities of most federal agencies are funded by means of annual appropriations provided in one or more of the regular appropriations acts that are enacted each fiscal year. Although some (and occasionally all) of the regular appropriations bills may be enacted before the fiscal year begins, in recent decades it has been common for most—if not all—of the regular appropriations bills to be enacted after the start of the fiscal year. In some recent instances—including FY2007, FY2009, FY2011, FY2013, FY2015, and FY2017—the consideration of regular appropriations bills has carried over to the following session of Congress. When action on the regular appropriations acts is delayed beyond the start of the fiscal year, Congress may use one or more continuing appropriations acts (commonly known as continuing resolutions or CRs) to provide stop-gap funding.

Eleven of the past 12 Congresses, covering the 103 rd Congress through the 114 th Congress, have concluded with a lame duck session. The enactment of appropriations measures has been an important element of most of these sessions. Although no regular or continuing appropriation measures were enacted during lame duck sessions held in 1994, 1998, 2008, and 2012, a total of 25 regular and 18 continuing appropriations measures were enacted during the 7 other lame duck sessions held in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2016.

This report provides information on the enactment of regular and continuing appropriations measures in connection with lame duck sessions occurring between 1994 and 2016.

Background

A lame duck session occurs during the period following Election Day, which is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year, and before the convening of a new Congress about two months later in early January. Under the 20 th Amendment to the Constitution, Congress is required to convene at noon on January 3 following the election, unless by statute it designates a different day. In recent years, new Congresses have convened during the first week of January in each odd-numbered year but not necessarily on January 3. As pointed out in a CRS report

A "lame duck" session of Congress is one that takes place after the election for the next Congress has been held, but before the current Congress has reached the end of its constitutional term. Under contemporary conditions, any meeting of Congress that occurs between a congressional election in November and the following January 3 is a lame duck session. The significant characteristic of a lame duck session is that its participants are the sitting Members of the existing Congress, not those who will be entitled to sit in the new Congress.

Several factors may contribute to the occurrence of lame duck sessions, including the need to deal with unfinished business or urgent matters that have arisen suddenly. The consideration and enactment of legislative proposals, particularly those with significant budgetary implications, is sometimes postponed until a lame duck session. For example, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 ( P.L. 112-240 ), which addressed a number of fiscal policies, was enacted at the end of the 2012 lame duck session on January 2, 2013.

Lame duck sessions have been used in recent years for various purposes, including efforts to bring action on regular appropriations bills for a fiscal year to a close. In addition to action on appropriations measures, lame duck sessions have been used for such matters as the consideration of authorization measures for the Department of Defense and intelligence activities, the finalization of a measure establishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the House impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton.

Twenty-one lame duck sessions occurred between 1935 and 2016. Ten of the 21 lame duck sessions occurred between 1935 and 1990, an average of 1 every 5 years. The use of such sessions, however, has become more common in recent years, occurring about twice as frequently. The remaining 11 lame duck sessions—which occurred after the 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 elections—covered a span of 12 Congresses. As Table 1 shows, lame duck sessions occurred during this period whether party control of the federal government was unified (i.e., the same party controlled the presidency and both chambers of Congress, as in 1994, 2004, 2006, and 2010) or divided. Further, lame duck sessions occurred in presidential election years (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016) as well as non-presidential election years.

Overview of the Enactment of Appropriations Measures Before, During, and After Lame Duck Sessions

Between calendar years 1994 and 2016, lame duck sessions have in some instances afforded Congress an opportunity to complete action on regular appropriations for a fiscal year. In other instances, lame duck sessions played little or no role in this regard, as action on regular appropriations was completed well before or after a lame duck session. A total of 136 regular appropriations acts were enacted (or covered by full-year CRs) for the fiscal years that coincided with lame duck sessions.

In addition, a total of 61 continuing appropriations measures were enacted for the fiscal years that coincided with lame duck sessions during this same period. As was the case for the regular appropriations bills, the continuing appropriations measures were an important element in some of the lame duck sessions.

Further information with regard to the annual appropriations acts and CRs that were enacted before, during, and after each lame duck session is displayed in Table 1 and Table 2 and discussed in the report section " Summary of Action on Appropriations Measures in Lame Duck Sessions Held in 1994-2016 ".

Regular Appropriations Acts

The variation in the incidence of lame duck sessions and the enactment of regular appropriations bills is shown in Table 2 . There have been considerable differences in the degree to which regular appropriations have been completed before, during, or after the 12 most recent lame duck sessions held since 1994. The count of regular appropriations acts in Table 2 includes those that were enacted in standalone vehicles, omnibus vehicles, or covered by full-year CRs. During the 109 th Congress, covering 2005 and 2006, the number of regular appropriations acts was reduced from 13 to 11 due to reorganization of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. At the beginning of the 110 th Congress, a further reorganization of the appropriations subcommittees took effect, which resulted in an increase in the number of annual appropriations acts to 12.

In total, 46 of the 136 regular appropriations acts during this period were enacted before the beginning of the applicable lame duck session, 25 were enacted during a lame duck session, and 65 were enacted afterward.

The lame duck sessions in 1994, 1998, 2008, and 2012 did not anticipate the enactment of appropriations acts. In 1994, all of the 13 regular appropriations acts for FY1995 were enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year. In 1998, 1 of the FY1999 regular appropriations bills was enacted before the start of the fiscal year, and the remaining 12 bills were enacted by October 21, nearly 2 months before the lame duck session began on December 17. In 2008, work on 3 out of the 12 regular appropriations acts for FY2009 was completed before the end of September; at that time, a CR was enacted that provided funding for the 9 remaining acts through early March of the following year. Those nine acts were not considered until the beginning of the 111 th Congress, when they were combined into an omnibus appropriations measure and enacted on March 11, 2009. Similarly, in 2012, a CR was enacted prior to the beginning of the fiscal year that provided funding through March 27, 2013. Annual appropriations for FY2013 were later enacted after the beginning of the 113 th Congress on March 26, 2013, in a consolidated measure that contained five regular appropriations acts and full-year CR that covered the seven remaining regular appropriations acts.

The enactment of regular appropriations bills was an important element in three lame duck sessions: 2000, 2004, and 2014. In 2000, eight regular appropriations bills were enacted before the lame duck session, but the remaining five were enacted during (or immediately after) the session. In 2004, four regular appropriations bills were enacted before the lame duck session, but the remaining nine were enacted during the session. Most recently, in 2014, a consolidated measure containing 11 of the regular appropriations acts for that fiscal year was enacted during the lame duck session, with the remaining regular bill—for DHS—being enacted afterward on March 4, 2015.

Different patterns prevailed in the other four lame duck sessions held in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2016, but action on all regular appropriations acts was not completed until after the session in any of these instances. In 2002 and 2006, two of the regular appropriations bills (for FY2003 and FY2007, respectively) had been enacted before the lame duck session began, but final action on the remaining acts was not completed until February during the following session. The remaining 11 regular appropriations acts for FY2003 were incorporated into an omnibus appropriations measure, which was enacted on February 20, 2003. Full-year funding for the nine remaining FY2007 regular appropriations acts was provided through a full-year CR, which was enacted on February 15, 2007. For 2010, no regular appropriations bills had been enacted before the start of the lame duck session, and annual appropriations were ultimately provided in a consolidated measure that was enacted on April 15, 2011. This measure contained the Department of Defense Appropriations Act and funded the programs and activities in the 11 remaining appropriations bills through a full-year CR. For FY2017, one regular appropriations bill (Military Construction and Veterans Affairs) was enacted before the lame duck session began. Funding for the other 11 appropriations bills was provided in a CR that expired during the lame duck session. Upon the CR's expiration, Congress passed a second CR to provide funding through April and then a third CR to provide funding for another week, at which time the remaining 11 appropriations bills were consolidated into an omnibus appropriations measure that was enacted in May 2017.

Continuing Appropriations Legislation

Continuing appropriations legislation has been an integral component of the annual appropriations process for decades. Whenever action on one or more of the regular appropriations bills for a fiscal year is not completed until after the fiscal year has begun, CRs are used to provide stop-gap funding, thereby avoiding disruption in agency operations. Two issues that arise under these circumstances are how CRs will be used to resolve any funding impasses and the appropriate duration of any period for their use.

CRs may have a relatively short duration in the expectation that action on the regular appropriations acts will be concluded within several days or weeks. In this case, multiple short-term CRs are often used to "buy time" for ongoing negotiations on regular appropriations acts while maintaining incentives to complete the negotiations. Alternatively, CRs may have a longer duration to postpone final action on appropriations decisions until after elections or into the beginning of the next congressional session. Finally, a CR may provide funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, as was the case in FY2007, FY2011, and FY2013.

There has been considerable variation in the degree to which CRs have been used to provide stop-gap funding during the 11 most recent lame duck sessions held since 1994 (see Table 3 ). A total of 61 CRs were enacted for the fiscal years that coincided with lame duck sessions during this period. In total, 32 of the 61 CRs were enacted before the beginning of the applicable lame duck session, 18 were enacted during the lame duck session, and 11 were enacted afterward.

In 1994, when all of the regular appropriations bills (for FY1995) were enacted prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, no CRs were needed. In 1998, all of the regular appropriations bills (for FY1999) were enacted before the lame duck session began (but not before the beginning of the fiscal year). Six CRs were enacted to provide funding through the first three weeks of the fiscal year, but none were needed afterward. In 2008, the CR that was enacted before the fiscal year began also contained three regular appropriations acts. That CR extended funding for the remaining appropriations acts through March 6, 2009, at which point action on annual appropriations was completed. Similarly, a long-term CR, which provided funding for the first six months of FY2013, eliminated the necessity for stop-gap appropriations during the 2012 lame duck session. Action on annual appropriations for FY2013 was completed during the following session of Congress on March 28, 2013.

Circumstances were different with respect to the other six lame duck sessions, which all involved the enactment of one or more CRs. In 2000, six CRs for FY2001 were enacted during the lame duck session. (Fifteen had been enacted before the session began.) In 2004, two CRs for FY2005 were enacted during the lame duck session. (One had been enacted before the session began.) In each year, one or more CRs was enacted before the lame duck session ended that extended stop-gap funding for a period of less than one week, allowing sufficient time for the remaining regular appropriations acts to be enacted. As a consequence, no CRs were needed after these lame duck sessions ended.

In the case of the five remaining lame duck sessions—held in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2016—CRs were needed to provide stop-gap funding both during and after the sessions. In 2002, one CR for FY2003 was enacted during the lame duck session. (Four had been enacted before the session began.) Three additional CRs were enacted early in the 2003 session before action on appropriations was ultimately concluded with the enactment of an omnibus measure on February 20. In 2006, two CRs for FY2007 were enacted during the lame duck session. (One had been enacted before the session began.) Action was concluded early in the 2007 session with the enactment of a full-year CR on February 15. In 2010, three CRs were enacted during the lame duck session. (One had been enacted before the session began.) Four additional CRs were needed after the 2011 session of Congress had begun until action on appropriations was completed through the enactment of a consolidated measure on April 15, 2011.

Most recently, 11 of the appropriations acts for FY2015 were enacted in a consolidated measure during the 2014 lame duck session. Two CRs were also enacted during the lame duck session to provide stop-gap funding while that consolidated measure was being completed. In addition, the consolidated act contained a CR that provided stop-gap appropriations for DHS until February 27, 2015. Those stop-gap appropriations were later extended through March 6 by a further CR that was enacted during the new session of Congress. The purpose of this CR was to allow time to complete the remaining DHS regular appropriations act.

For FY2017, funding for 11 appropriations bills was provided in a CR enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year that expired during the lame duck session. Upon the CR's expiration during the lame-duck, Congress passed a second CR to provide funding through April and then a third CR to provide funding for another week. The remaining 11 appropriations bills were then consolidated into an omnibus appropriations measure that was enacted in May 2017.

Summary of Action on Appropriations Measures in Lame Duck Sessions Held in 1994-2016

A brief summary of action on regular appropriations and CRs that were enacted during each of the 11 lame duck sessions that occurred during the period between 1994 and 2016 is provided in this section.

1994 and 1998 Lame Duck Sessions

In 1994, a lame duck session was held from November 29 to December 1. All 13 of the regular appropriations acts for FY1995 were enacted prior to the start of the fiscal year on October 1, before the lame duck session began; all were enacted separately. No CRs were needed.

In 1998, a lame duck session was held on December 17-19. All 13 of the regular appropriations acts for FY1999 were enacted prior to the lame duck session—5 separately and 8 in an omnibus measure, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY1999 ( P.L. 105-277 ; October 21, 2008). Six CRs were enacted to provide stop-gap funding through October 21.

Over the three days of the 1998 lame duck session, the House considered and passed a resolution of impeachment against President Bill Clinton; the Senate was not in session.

For 1996, all regular appropriations acts were completed prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, and no lame duck session was held.

2000 Lame Duck Session

In 2000, a lame duck session was held from November 13 to December 15.

Eight of the 13 regular appropriations acts for FY2001 were enacted prior to the lame duck session—6 separately and 2 as part of an omnibus measure, the VA-HUD Appropriations Act for 2001 ( P.L. 106-377 ; October 27, 2000), which also included funding for the Energy-Water Development Appropriations Act for FY2001.

The remaining five regular appropriations acts for FY2001 were considered and enacted during the lame duck session. An omnibus measure, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2001 ( P.L. 106-554 ; December 21, 2000), covered the following three regular appropriations acts: (1) Labor-HHS-Education, (2) Legislative Branch, and (3) Treasury-Postal Service. The District of Columbia Appropriations Act for FY2001 ( P.L. 106-522 ; November 22, 2000) and the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Act for FY2001 ( P.L. 106-553 ; December 21, 2000) were enacted separately.

Fifteen CRs were enacted before the lame duck session began. Six CRs were enacted during the lame duck session.

2002 Lame Duck Session

A lame duck session was held November 7-22, 2002. No regular appropriations acts were considered during the session.

Two of the regular appropriations acts for FY2003 were enacted before the lame duck session began—the Defense Appropriations Act ( P.L. 107-248 ) and the Military Construction Appropriations Act ( P.L. 107-249 ). They both became law on October 23, 2002.

All of the remaining 11 regular appropriations acts for FY2003 were enacted early in the next Congress as a single measure, the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution for FY2003 ( P.L. 108-7 ; February 20, 2003), many weeks after the lame duck session had ended.

Four CRs for FY2003 were enacted before the lame duck session began. One further CR for the fiscal year was considered and enacted during the lame duck session ( P.L. 107-294 ; November 23, 2002). Three more CRs were enacted early in the next Congress.

2004 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2004 was held from November 16 to December 8.

Four of the 13 regular appropriations acts for FY2005 were enacted separately before the lame duck session began (the Defense, District of Columbia, Homeland Security, and Military Construction Appropriations Acts).

The remaining nine regular appropriations acts for FY2005 were considered and enacted during the lame duck session as part of an omnibus measure, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2005 ( P.L. 108-447 ; December 8, 2004).

One CR was enacted before the lame duck session began. Two further CRs for FY2005 were considered and enacted during the lame duck session: P.L. 108-416 (November 21, 2004) and P.L. 108-434 (December 3, 2004).

2006 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2006 was held from November 13 to December 9.

Two of the 11 regular appropriations acts for FY2007 were separately enacted before the lame duck session began. The Defense Appropriations Act ( P.L. 109-289 ) and the Homeland Security Appropriations Act ( P.L. 109-295 ) were signed into law on September 29 and October 4, respectively. The nine other appropriations acts were extended through November 17 via a CR enacted on September 29 ( P.L. 109-289 ).

Although a number of the remaining appropriations acts were considered by both the House and the Senate prior to the preelection recess, the only act to be considered by either chamber during the lame duck session was H.R. 5385 , the Military Construction, Military Quality of Life, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, which was considered by the Senate and passed on November 14. Action on the nine regular appropriations acts was completed via a full-year CR ( H.J.Res. 20 ) that was signed into law on February 15, 2007 ( P.L. 110-5 ).

At the beginning of the lame duck session, a second CR for FY2007 was enacted ( P.L. 109-369 ) to provide appropriations through December 8. When it became apparent that action on regular appropriations would not be completed, a third CR was enacted ( P.L. 109-383 ) that extended appropriations through February 15, 2007.

2008 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2008 was held from November 19 to January 3. No regular appropriations acts were considered during the session.

Three of the 12 regular appropriations acts for FY2009 (Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs) were enacted before the lame duck session as part of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations resolution, which became law on September 30 ( P.L. 110-329 ). This CR extended funding for the nine remaining appropriations acts through March 6, 2009.

No action on appropriations was undertaken during the 2008 lame duck session. The remaining appropriations acts were consolidated in the early days of the 111 th Congress into the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, which was signed by the President on March 11, 2009 ( P.L. 111-8 ).

2010 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2010 was held from November 4 to December 19. No regular appropriations acts were considered during the session.

Before the preelection recess, none of the 12 regular appropriations bills had been enacted, and only 2 regular appropriations bills for FY2011 (Military Construction/Veterans Affairs and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development) had been passed by the House. A CR ( P.L. 111-242 ) was enacted on September 30 that extended budget authority through December 3.

None of the regular appropriations bills was enacted during the 2010 lame duck session. Funding for FY2011 was further extended through three additional CRs ( P.L. 111-290 , enacted on December 4, 2010; P.L. 111-317 , enacted on December 18, 2010; P.L. 111-322 , enacted on December 22, 2010) through March 4 of the next session.

In the first months of the 112 th Congress, three additional CRs ( P.L. 112-4 , enacted on March 2, 2011; P.L. 112-6 , enacted on March 18, 2011; P.L. 112-8 , enacted on April 9, 2011) provided further stop-gap budget authority. FY2011 appropriations were ultimately provided in the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 ( P.L. 112-10 ; April 15, 2011). Division A contained the Department of Defense Appropriations Act; funding for the 11 remaining acts was provided in Division B through a full-year CR.

2012 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2012 was held from November 9, 2012, to January 3, 2013. No regular appropriations acts or CRs were enacted during the session.

Before the preelection recess, none of the regular appropriations bills had been enacted. Seven bills had been passed by the House; none had been passed by the Senate. Continuing appropriations through March 27, 2013, were provided by P.L. 112-175 , which was enacted on September 28, 2012.

After the session, annual appropriations were provided by P.L. 113-6 , the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, which was enacted on March 26, 2013. Division F of the act, entitled "the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act," provided budget authority that covered seven regular appropriations bills; the texts of the other five regular appropriations acts were contained in Divisions A through E of P.L. 113-6 .

2014 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2014 was held from November 12, 2014, to January 3, 2015.

Because none of the regular appropriations bills were enacted by the start of the fiscal year, a CR was enacted to provide temporary funding through December 11, 2014 ( P.L. 113-164 , September 19, 2014).

During the lame duck session, 11 of the 12 regular appropriations acts were enacted on December 16, 2014, as part of the "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015" ( P.L. 113-235 ). That law also contained a CR that provided stop-gap appropriations for DHS through February 27, 2015. Two additional CRs ( P.L. 113-202 , December 12, 2014; and P.L. 113-203 , December 13, 2014) were enacted during the lame duck session to provide short-term appropriations while the consolidated measure was being completed.

After the lame duck session, one further CR was enacted to extend funding for DHS through March 6, 2015, to allow time to complete the DHS regular appropriations bill ( P.L. 114-3 ). The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for FY2015 was enacted on March 4, 2015 ( P.L. 114-4 ).

2016 Lame Duck Session

The lame duck session for 2016 was held from November 14, 2016, to January 2, 2017.

One regular appropriations bill (Military Construction and Veterans Affairs) was enacted before the lame duck session began ( P.L. 114-223 ). That law also contained a CR providing funding for the other 11 appropriations bills through December 9, 2016. On December 10, a second CR was enacted providing funding through April 28, 2017 ( P.L. 114-254 ). On April 28, a third CR was enacted providing funding through May 5, 2017 ( P.L. 115-30 ). On May 5, an omnibus appropriations bill was enacted that encompassed the remaining 11 appropriations bills for FY2017 ( P.L. 115-3 )