How Agencies Actually Buy Under a Continuing Resolution — and How to Keep Your Pipeline Moving

Published 2026 | TIKC NewsWire

With the House having passed a stopgap and the Senate lagging, a continuing resolution (CR) is the most likely way federal fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1. If you sell to the government, understanding how agencies actually buy under a CR is the difference between a stalled quarter and a steady one.

What a CR Does to Buying

A CR funds agencies at prior-year levels and rates of operation. In practice, that means three things: agencies generally can’t start new programs (“no new starts”), they get funding in short increments rather than a full year, and they tend to hold back on large new obligations until they know their real number. The predictable result is slower awards on anything “new,” and a rush of obligations once full-year appropriations finally land.

What Keeps Moving

• Continuing work and existing contracts generally keep going — options can be exercised and funded task orders continue.
• Recurring, mission-essential buys (sustainment, O&M, supplies) proceed because they aren’t “new starts.”
• Task orders under existing IDIQs and GWACs keep flowing, which is one more reason to be positioned on a vehicle.

How to Protect Your Pipeline

Sort your pipeline into “new start” versus “continuing,” so you know what’s exposed. Lean into recompetes, options, and task-order work during the CR, and time your new-business push for when full funding lands. Keep a cash cushion for slower payment cycles, and ask your contracting officers about anomalies — CRs sometimes carry specific exceptions that let priority new work proceed. Plan for the stopgap and you won’t lose the quarter to it. Brick by brick.

FAQ

Can any new work start during a CR?

Sometimes. CRs can include “anomalies” — specific exceptions Congress writes in to let certain new or increased activities proceed. Ask your CO whether your program is covered.

Is a CR the same as a shutdown?

No. A CR keeps the government funded and open at prior-year levels; a shutdown happens when even a CR isn’t enacted in time. A CR is the tool used to avoid a shutdown.

Sources

American Action Forum. (2026, June 30). A FY2027 appropriations progress report.