‘Full, Paid Operations’ Across Federal Judiciary to Halt as Funding Runs Out

‘Full, Paid Operations’ Across Federal Judiciary to Halt as Funding Runs Out

The federal judiciary has become the latest institution to feel the effects of the ongoing government shutdown. In a Friday statement, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the central support agency for the federal judiciary, announced, “Beginning on Monday, Oct. 20, [federal courts] will no longer have funding to sustain full, paid operations. Until the ongoing lapse in government funding is resolved, federal courts will maintain limited operations necessary to perform the Judiciary’s constitutional functions.”

More specifically:

Federal judges will continue to serve, in accordance with the Constitution, but court staff may only perform certain excepted activities permitted under the Anti-Deficiency Act.

Examples of excepted work include 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 will be performed without pay during the funding lapse. Staff members not performing excepted work will be placed on furlough.

Each appellate, district, and bankruptcy court will make operational decisions regarding how its cases and probation and pretrial supervision will be conducted during the funding lapse. Each court and federal defender’s office will determine the staffing resources necessary to support such work.

The Judiciary will begin limited operations on Oct. 20 after exhausting available funds. Federal courts will continue to perform critical Article III functions until the lapse in government funding is resolved. https://t.co/VE7tI9ywJE

— United States Courts (@uscourts) October 17, 2025

According to The New York Times, until Friday, the federal court system had largely continued operating as usual, sustained by a limited reserve funded by public fees to access court records online. Those 10-cent-per-page charges for digital filings had provided enough funding to keep the judiciary running for several weeks, even as much of the federal government began furloughing employees and halting services on Oct. 1.

Friday’s announcement, however, shifted the responsibility for managing operations to individual courts, a move likely to produce a patchwork of responses nationwide, the Times noted.

Due to the numerous lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, the Department of Justice:

[H]as repeatedly asked judges to briefly suspend litigation in key cases against the government. However, a growing number of judges have refused to do so. In other cases, some judges have extended deadlines until after the impasse ends, or agreed to put less urgent matters on hold.

In filings, the Justice Department has argued that it cannot keep up with the demands of defending the government across the hundreds of lawsuits against the Trump administration with reduced resources.

But according to the agency’s shutdown plans, only 11 percent of its work force was set to be furloughed. That compares with more than 80 percent of federal workers at other agencies, such as the Commerce Department.

Virginia Kendall, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, warned on Friday that the shutdown “will create delays in the Court’s ability to ensure timely justice.”

“Furthermore,” she said, “the dedicated public servants, who allow those who seek redress prompt access to Court, are now feeling the pain of their paychecks being suspended and facing difficult financial decisions to keep their families afloat because of the shutdown.”

However, Kendall noted that, at least for the time being, there are sufficient funds to keep paying jurors, “meaning all trials and grand jury proceedings will continue as scheduled.”

This is especially significant given the ongoing lawsuits in federal district courts seeking to block the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in the state.

Chicago chief federal judge Virginia Kendall (northern district of IL) announces that courts have run out of money to pay salaries and are reducing operations to "constitutional functions.” The damage of this shutdown to society and workers is real pic.twitter.com/oj5tOtMaiP

— Gregory Royal Pratt (@royalpratt) October 17, 2025

In a statement to The Hill, Patricia McCabe, Supreme Court public information officer, said the Court “expects to run out of funding on October 18. As a result, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice. The Building will remain open for official business.”

“The Supreme Court will continue to conduct essential work such as hearing oral arguments, issuing orders and opinions, processing case filings, and providing police and building support needed for those operations,” McCabe added.

For now, there appears to be no clear end in sight to the shutdown. What began as a political impasse has hardened into a test of endurance, with both sides dug in, and the effects rippling far beyond Washington. Unless a compromise is reached soon, the impact on the judiciary — and the broader federal workforce — is likely to deepen in the coming days.

The U.S. federal court system starting on Monday will begin curtailing non-essential functions and furloughing some employees after exhausting what funds it had left to sustain paid operations during the U.S. government shutdown.

The announcement, in a Thursday internal memo… pic.twitter.com/lyy1gmfrje

— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) October 17, 2025

Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.

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