Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations As Shutdown Exhausts Funds

With the government shutdown about to enter its third week, the federal court system announced Friday that it will begin operating in a limited, unpaid capacity starting Monday - having exhausted the last of the court fees and other stopgap funds that had kept its doors open since Oct. 1.

In a statement, the judiciary said that beginning Oct. 20, it will “no longer have funding to sustain full, paid operations” across its 94 district and 13 circuit courts. The move marks one of the most significant contractions in the judicial branch in decades, as courts transition to the minimum operations required by law until Congress restores government funding.

Essential Functions Only

“Until the ongoing lapse in government funding is resolved, federal courts will maintain limited operations necessary to perform the Judiciary’s constitutional functions,” the statement read.

Under the Anti-Deficiency Act, federal employees are prohibited from working without appropriations except in narrowly defined circumstances, such as activities essential to human safety, the protection of property, or the performance of constitutional duties.

Judges, who serve under Article III of the Constitution, will continue to work. But most court employees – including clerks, probation officers, and administrative staff – will either be furloughed or required to work without pay if their duties qualify as “excepted activities.”

Each appellate, district, and bankruptcy court will decide independently how to manage its docket and staffing. Some proceedings will move forward, particularly those involving urgent matters such as detention hearings or imminent deadlines, while other civil and criminal cases are expected to be delayed indefinitely.

Jury Trials, PACER to Continue

Despite the funding lapse, the jury program will remain operational because it draws on funds not tied to congressional appropriations. Jurors have been instructed to continue reporting to courthouses unless otherwise notified.

The judiciary’s electronic filing and case management systems (CM/ECF and PACER) will also remain functional, allowing attorneys to file motions and review case information online. But administrative offices in Washington will be closed, and public telephone lines for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts will go unanswered.

Mounting Strain on a Burdened System

The slowdown will deepen the strain on a court system that was already struggling under heavy caseloads before the shutdown began. Legal analysts warn that even a short disruption in operations could ripple through the justice system, delaying trials, probation supervision, and appeals work for months.

The judiciary has been warning since Oct. 1 that it could keep business running only briefly using non-appropriated funds, a senior court administrator who was not authorized to speak publicly told Axios. 

The Senate on Thursday rejected a House plan to reopen the government for the tenth time since the shutdown began, and lawmakers do not plan to reconvene on the issue until next week—making it increasingly unlikely that courts will be fully funded before the shutdown enters its fourth week.

With thousands of judicial employees joining the ranks of the hundreds of thousands already furloughed or laid off across the federal government.

Somehow, we imagine activist judges will still find the time to issue TROs whenever Trump issues an executive order.