President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk's push to radically overhaul the federal government is now reaching the U.S. court system with a demand that the judiciary justify why the administration should not cancel leases for space it uses at 160 locations nationally (article available here).
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the federal judiciary's administrative arm, in an internal memo said it received the lease inquiry from the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages federal property for various parts of the government including the courts.
The leases are for spaces at about 160 locations used by courts and Federal Public Defender offices, which are part of the judiciary.
In the memo, the judiciary stated it "intends to work with GSA to ensure that judiciary operations in each of these locations can continue undisturbed."
The judiciary is one of three branches of the federal government and operates independently of the executive branch Trump leads. But it relies on some services and functions that are maintained by arms of executive branch, including GSA.