H.R. 1968 · 119th Congress
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025
Rep. Cole, Tom [R-OK-4] (R-OK) · Introduced
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-4.
· from Congress.gov, as of August 8, 2026
Committees
What this stage means
The bill is now law — by the President's signature, by the ten-day rule when the President declines to sign, or by a two-thirds veto override.
Why this matters
There are three constitutional paths to enactment, and only one of them requires the President's approval.
What can happen next
Executive agencies write regulations to implement it; courts may review challenges to it.
Study this bill
AP GovThe constitutional question
The purest power-of-the-purse case: with appropriations lapsing, Congress passed a full-year continuing resolution. In the Senate, ending debate required 60 votes — so a minority-party faction had to choose between advancing a bill it opposed and shutting the government. Ten did; the CR passed 54–46 on final passage.
The strongest case for
A full-year CR was the only bill that could actually pass divided-attention Washington in March 2025, and every alternative was worse: a shutdown furloughs millions, halts services for the people least able to absorb it, and historically costs more than it saves. Voting for cloture while voting against the bill — as several senators did — is exactly how the Senate is designed to work: letting the majority govern while registering dissent. Hostage-taking with the basic functions of government, whichever party attempts it, deserves to fail; the senators who broke the standoff prioritized the country's operations over a messaging fight they could not win.
The strongest case against
A full-year CR is Congress abdicating its most fundamental job: instead of twelve appropriations bills setting priorities line by line, one take-it-or-leave-it package locked in the prior year's numbers with cuts negotiated by nobody's committee — and handed the executive unusual discretion over how reduced funds get allocated. For the minority, cloture was the only leverage the Constitution's design provides; surrendering it taught the majority that shutdown brinkmanship works, guaranteeing repetition. The immediate government-worker pain of a shutdown is real, but so is the structural cost of teaching Congress that the appropriations process itself is optional.
Foundational documents in play
- U.S. Constitution
Article I, Section 9's appropriations requirement is why the government shuts down when this kind of bill fails.
- Federalist No. 51
A shutdown deadline is checks-and-balances weaponized: each veto point can extract concessions by threatening the machinery itself.
Organizations supporting
Organizations opposing
This has happened before
The FY2019 lapse — 35 days, the longest shutdown in history — is the counterfactual this CR avoided. That standoff ended with the President conceding nothing gained; polling assigned blame decisively. Every subsequent funding fight, including this one, has been negotiated in the shadow of that lesson: shutdowns are leverage that detonates on the party holding it.
Practice FRQ
Quantitative Analysis. The cloture vote on the FY2025 full-year continuing resolution was 62–38, with 10 members of the minority party voting yes; final passage was 54–46. (A) Identify the number of votes required to invoke cloture in the Senate. (B) Describe what the difference between the cloture margin and the final-passage margin indicates about senators' strategic behavior. (C) Explain how the filibuster shapes appropriations outcomes even when it is not used.
Sources: www.congress.gov
Action history
Every recorded action from Congress.gov — 36 total.
Signed by President.
Signed by President.
Became Public Law No: 119-4.
Became Public Law No: 119-4.
Senate
Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure withdrawn by unanimous consent in Senate. (CR S1768)
Senate
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (CR S1768)
Senate
Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S1768-1772)
Senate
Cloture motion on the measure presented in Senate. (CR S1768)
Senate
Cloture on the measure invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 62 - 38. Record Vote Number: 128. (CR S1768)
Senate
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 54 - 46. Record Vote Number: 133.
Senate
Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 54 - 46. Record Vote Number: 133.
Senate
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Presented to President.
House
Presented to President.
Senate
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S1681)
Senate
Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S1700)
House
Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 211 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 25, H.R. 1156 and H.R. 1968. The resolution provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 25, H.R. 1156, and H.R. 1968 under a closed rule. Also, the resolution provides for one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit on each measure.
House
Rule H. Res. 211 passed House.
House
Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 211. (consideration: CR H1102-1124)
House
Rule provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 25, H.R. 1156 and H.R. 1968. The resolution provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 25, H.R. 1156, and H.R. 1968 under a closed rule. Also, the resolution provides for one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit on each measure.
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 1968.
House
The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
House
Ms. Meng moved to recommit to the Committee on Appropriations. (text: CR H1123-1124)
House
The previous question on the motion to recommit was ordered pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX.
House
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 1968, the Chair put the question on the motion to recommit and announced that the noes had prevailed. Ms. Meng demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
House
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H1124-1126)
House
On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 213 - 216 (Roll no. 69).
House
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 213 (Roll no. 70). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H1102-1113)
House
On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 213 (Roll no. 70). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H1102-1113)
House
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Senate
Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (Legislative Day March 10, 2025).
Senate
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 26.
House
Introduced in House
House
Introduced in House
House
Referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
House
Referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.