welcome to county office your ultimate guide to local government services and public records let's get started can Congress avoid a government shutdown to avoid a government shutdown Congress has several options and strict deadlines to meet here's how they can do it passing Appropriations bills Congress must pass the 12 anual Appropriations bills that fund different government agencies these bills need to be passed by both the house and the Senate and then signed by the president before the existing funding expires for example in the fiscal year 2024 funding was extended multiple times until Congress finally passed ful year Appropriations bills in March 2024 continuing resolutions if Congress cannot pass all the Appropriations bills on time they can pass a continuing resolution CR to temporarily fund the government a CR allows the government to continue operating at the previous year's funding levels giving lawmakers more time to finalize the Appropriations bills CRS can be used to fund all or part of the government's discretionary functions timing and deadlines for the fiscal year 2024 Congress had to pass the first four Appropriations bills by March 1st and the remaining eight by March 8th to avoid a shutdown similar deadlines apply to other fiscal years with the most critical being the end of the fiscal year typically on September 30th funding extensions in cases where full Appropriations are not possible Congress can pass multiple CRS to extend funding in tranches for instance in early 2024 Congress extended funding deadlines multiple times to avoid a shutdown until they could pass FYE funding current scenario as of September 2024 Congress is again facing a deadline to pass a spending bill by September 30th to avoid a shutdown house Speaker Mike Johnson has proposed a stop Gap funding bill to keep the government open until March 2025 but this proposal is contentious due to additional requirements like proof of citizenship for voting challenges despite these options avoiding a shutdown is often challenging due to political disagreements for example disagreements over voting laws and other policy issues can delay or block the passage of funding bills however Congress can still avoid a shutdown by compromising on these issues to learn more check out these links which you can click in the description below and feel free to comment your questions we're here to help thanks for tuning into our video please like And subscribe and leave a comment below see you in the next video [Music]