The U.S. federal government shutdown this week is continuing to delay payments to defense lawyers who have been waiting for months to be compensated for their work.

The U.S. Courts announced on July 3 that funding for the Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys — the private lawyers who pick up federal public defender cases — ran out of money.

The problem was that Congress kept funding flat in fiscal year 2025 — leaving the judiciary with an estimated $116 million shortfall it couldn’t fill, according to a release.

Local attorneys previously told the Post-Tribune they would work to minimize the effects on their clients’ rights. When the federal fiscal year restarted on Oct. 1 – some had hoped they would start to get paid again.

Criminal defense lawyer Adam Tavitas, 56, his Chesterton fir

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