The Federal Budget and Appropriations Process
Regular order is the process by which the United States Congress passes twelve appropriations bills to fund the federal government. This graphic shows the traditional timeline by which this occurs. If an appropriations bill is not signed by the president by September 30, or a continuing resolution (CR) is not passed in its place, then the federal government agencies that bill funds will shut down. It is not uncommon for Congress to work on appropriations for multiple fiscal years at once.
