Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Ways of Funding Government

One of Congress' most fundamental responsibilities is to pass a budget and fund the government. The way we budget and fund the government is, unfortunately, now dysfunctional. It is a problem that has gone on for far too long, and we have become accustomed to it. This is no way to govern. This broken process filled with last-minute deadlines, continuing resolutions, and even government shutdowns is wasteful. It is inefficient and harmful to the American people. Our broken budget process needlessly shortchanges effectiveness of Federal programs through the never-ending cycle of short-term continuing resolutions and omnibus spending bills, creating budget crisis and keep the government perpetually at the edge of a shutdown. That threat occasionally comes to pass. Though Congress designed a clear budget process in the 1974 Congressional Budget Act to establish our own funding priorities and set a timeline for enacting them into law, we have failed time and time again to live up to our own standards. In fact, Congress has only managed to enact all 12 required appropriation bills on time in four of the past 40 years. Instead, this body has passed an average of four CRs every year, and the frequency has only increased in recent years. Since 2011, we have passed 34 CRs. Sometimes these CRs fund the government for as little as one day at a time. As a result, the majority of sitting Members of Congress have never seen this body pass a budget through "regular order."