It has been three weeks since the federal government shutdown began, leaving many government services in limbo. Funding for the federal judiciary ran out today, and it has announced it will be “maintaining limited operations.”
The U.S. Courts announced Friday that judges will continue to serve, but court staff will only “perform certain excepted activities” allowed under the Anti-Deficiency Act.
The announcement listed excepted works as “activities necessary to perform constitutional functions under Article III, activities necessary for the safety of human life and protection of property, and activities otherwise authorized by federal law.”
Excepted work is performed without pay during the shutdown. Staff members who aren’t performing excepted work are placed on furlough.
The jury program will continue because it is funded by money not affected by the appropriations lapse.
The clerk for the Southern District of Texas told The Texas Lawbook it will “continue working without a reduction in service to litigants or the public.”
The Northern District Court clerk said its judges and staff will continue to work despite funding running out.
The federal district courts in Texas published a notice earlier in the week for judicial contractors.
“Unless notified in writing by a contracting officer, all Judiciary contractors must continue to fulfill their contractual obligations to the Judiciary in the event of a government shutdown, i.e., contractors must continue to comply with all terms, conditions, and delivery and performance requirements specified in their contracts during the period covered by a lapse in appropriations,” the notice read.
It further warned that the lapse in appropriations could limit the judiciary’s ability to manage its contracts.
“A shutdown, a sovereign act of the government, may prevent contractors and the Judiciary from fulfilling their contractual obligations to each other due to circumstances beyond their control,” the notice read. “In other cases, the government may cancel planned procurements, reduce the scope of contracts, stop work under contracts, or terminate contracts.”
The U.S. Tax Court announced last week that it would cancel trial sessions for the rest of October if the government shutdown continued through Oct. 14.
A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission spokesperson told The Lawbook in an email that the agency is operating in accordance with its plan for shutdown. In response to The Lawbook’s question on the impact of the shutdown three weeks ago, the SEC sent a 19-page document detailing how operations would work in the event of a shutdown.
The document stated the SEC will not engage in ongoing litigation, “except matters that cannot be deferred as described above; investigative work, including commencing investigations and conducting investigative testimony, except as necessary for the protection of property; pursuing the collection of any delinquent debts or work to distribute funds to harmed investors; or non- emergency examinations and inspections and related follow-up.”
“During the shutdown, the SEC’s public affairs office is not able to respond to many inquiries from the press,” the spokesperson wrote.
Western District Court Chief Judge Alia Moses and Eastern District Court Chief Judge Amos L. Mazzant III did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It is uncertain when the shutdown will end. In the Senate, both parties blocked each other’s votes on the spending proposal. The Republican bill did not restore Medicaid funding or extend Obamacare subsidies, so Democrats voted against it. The Democratic version added more than $1 trillion in spending, so Republicans voted against it.
The last government shutdown was seven years ago in 2018 and lasted 35 days through 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term.