The Government Accountability Office has found that continuing resolutions, or CRs, have repeatedly disrupted the Department of War’s ability to carry out acquisition programs on schedule.
Recent GAO findings highlight the complex budget environment facing defense programs. Those broader issues will frame discussions at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 29. Reserve your seat now!
In a report published Wednesday, GAO said about half of the 74 acquisition programs reported experiencing schedule disruptions due to CRs.
Officials told GAO that these delays affected contract awards, production timelines and the deployment of weapons systems at DOW.
According to the report, five of nine Air Force aircraft acquisition programs reviewed reported delays linked to CR constraints. In one case, officials said a stopgap measure in fiscal year 2022 delayed the award of a contract for the F-15 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System, a modernization effort for the aircraft’s electronic warfare capabilities. The delay contributed to likely parts shortages for the F-15 fleet.
What Does a Continuing Resolution Do?
According to GAO, a CR is a temporary funding measure Congress uses when regular appropriations bills are not enacted by the start of the fiscal year. CRs generally fund agencies at prior-year levels for a limited period of time.
In 45 of the last 49 fiscal years, the Pentagon operated under continuing resolutions. GAO found that these stopgap funding measures have had measurable effects on defense acquisition programs, particularly by delaying contract awards and slowing the delivery of critical military equipment.
In a separate review, the DOW Office of Inspector General released an audit in July 2025 examining the impact of continuing resolutions on the department’s acquisition programs and recommended that the Pentagon develop a method to track the impacts of CRs on acquisition programs and establish parameters for anomaly requests.
How Do CRs Disrupt Defense Spending?
GAO’s analysis of the department’s obligation data from FY 2013 through FY 2023 shows that longer CR periods lasting more than three months are associated with slower spending early in the fiscal year, particularly in procurement and research, development, test and evaluation accounts.
Once full appropriations are enacted, acquisition programs often face compressed timelines to obligate funds before the end of the fiscal year. Military service officials told GAO this can create bottlenecks in contracting offices and strain vendor capacity, making it more difficult to execute defense contracts.
