The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays. See Reuters new article.
In an internal memo statement, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said that as of Oct. 20, federal courts will "no longer have funding to sustain full, paid operations." This means the federal judiciary will for the first time in nearly three decades be forced to send some of its over 30,000 employees home on furlough and require others to work without a paycheck.
Courts will remain open, and judges and Supreme Court justices will still get paid, thanks to a bar in the U.S. Constitution against a diminution in their pay.
"Individual courts will determine which cases will continue on schedule, and which may be delayed," the Administrative Office said.
In a separate statement on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court said it expects to run out of funding Saturday but will continue to "conduct essential work such as hearing oral argument" and issuing orders and opinions.
The Supreme Court building "will be closed to the public until further notice," the statement said.
Federal defenders, who represent indigent defendants who have a right to a lawyer, are part of the judiciary and likewise will not get paid. Thousands of lawyers on the Criminal Justice Act panel—who represent indigent defendants when federal public defenders can’t—have now been working for over three months without pay.
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