Federal leaders cannot control when appropriations are enacted, but they can prepare their organizations to operate effectively when funding conditions change.  
This Topic Brief examines how appropriations, continuing resolutions, and funding lapses affect agency operations and offers practical frameworks for protecting compliance, prioritizing resources, coordinating decisions, and sustaining mission delivery through periods of uncertainty.  

Download the Topic Brief to explore how to:

  • Translate funding authority into practical operating decisions  
  • Understand how continuing resolutions affect purpose, time, and amount  
  • Prioritize work when budget authority is temporary or constrained  
  • Prepare programs and acquisition activities for changing funding conditions  
  • Strengthen contingency planning for potential funding lapses  
  • Build greater organizational readiness across program, finance, acquisition, legal, and leadership teams