Supreme Court would continue operations through government shutdown

Supreme Court operations overview: 

• Who: The United States Supreme Court operations will continue if there is a government shutdown, sources told Law360.
• Why: The high court would rely on permanent funds that are not subject to annual approvals, a spokesperson told the website.
• Where: The U.S. Supreme Court operates in Washington, D.C.

The United States Supreme Court operations will continue through a federal government shutdown, Law360 reports.

The court will operate based on permanent funding rather than annual federal funding that depends on the budget, the website said about the Supreme Court government shutdown. Lower levels of federal courts will continue to operate for at least two weeks before seeing an impact.

“All employees would report to work, and judiciary operations would continue using court fees and other available balances through at least Oct. 13, 2023,” Peter Kaplan, spokesperson for the judiciary, told Law360. “We continue to assess available fees and balances to determine if operations can be sustained beyond Oct. 13.”

A shutdown would be the fourth within a decade, according to Reuters. The federal courts can avoid furloughs for some of its 33,000 employees using court fees and other funds ont impacted by Congress appropriating new funding.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts told reporters that the judiciary would do what it could to continue essential functions and hear emergency cases.

“As they have during prior appropriations lapses, the courts and federal defender’s offices are conserving available funds by deferring non-mission critical expenses, such as new hires, non-case-related travel, and certain contracts,” an AO spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.

Tax Court and Trump, Biden special counsel investigations will continue during government shutdown, Law360 reports

The shutdown also will not impact the special counsels investigating former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, Law360 reported, because those are funded by permanent appropriations.

The federal Tax Court will also continue operations like the Supreme Court during a government shutdown, Law360 reported.

The Supreme Court made a number of rulings in the leadup to the high court’s annual summer recess in June, including decisions involving federal student loan forgiveness, a Christian website designer’s refusal to provide her services for same-sex weddings and whether a state can set its own rules for federal elections.

Will you be directly impacted by a federal government shutdown? Let us know in the comments.

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