Judiciary Funding Absent in House, Senate Covid-19 Relief Bills

The House and Senate seem to agree on at least one thing in their initial proposals for additional pandemic relief: no extra funding for federal courts.

Neither the House Democrats’ package, which was approved by the chamber in May, nor the recently introduced package from Senate Republicans includes the $36.6 million in additional funding the Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts asked for in April.

The administrative arm of the judiciary said it needs the additional funding to address “emergent needs,” including enhanced courtroom cleaning, health screenings, and teleworking infrastructure.

While the funding was left out of the proposals, it ...