The
budget and spending process of the United States federal government is a complex one. The
U.S. Constitution (
Article I, section 9, clause 7) states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." Traditionally, after a federal budget has been agreed upon in the spring before the upcoming fiscal year, Congress spends the summer writing and passing 12 regular appropriations acts. In 2013, Congress was unable to agree on a budget, but several attempts were made to carry on with the regular appropriations process. The House passed the
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (, June 4, 2013), the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 (, June 6, 2013), the
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (, July 10, 2013), the
Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2014 (, September 29, 2013), and the
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014 (, July 24, 2103). None of these bills passed in the Senate. All twelve regular appropriations bills were introduced in the House and the Senate, but these five were the only ones to receive a vote. The result was the
United States federal government shutdown of 2013. After 16 days of a federal government shutdown, Congress was able to agree to a new continuing resolution, the
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (;), which was passed, ending the shutdown. The bill funded the government until January 15, 2014, and suspended the
U.S. debt ceiling until February 7, 2014. As the January 15, 2014 deadline approached, Congress decided it would need extra time to prepare the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 3547; 113th Congress), which would fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. They turned to this continuing resolution to extend the deadline. ==Provisions of the bill==