Shutdown stalls key MD civil lawsuits involving DOJ

Listen to this article

The federal government shutdown has put many civil lawsuits involving the Department of Justice on hold.

Several notable civil cases in Maryland have been paused amid the shutdown, which began Oct. 1 after congressional Democrats refused to approve a budget that includes deep cuts to the Affordable Care Act. Cuts to government subsidies for private insurers in the ACA marketplace are expected to cause millions of Americans’ health care costs to rise.

The shutdown means delayed access to justice in civil cases that seek systemic reform and accountability; it also means some of the administration’s efforts to weaken its perceived enemies are on hold, too.

Among the paused cases are the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Maryland’s federal judges and a proposed class-action suit alleging unconstitutional living conditions at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in downtown Baltimore.

On Tuesday, a Maryland federal judge granted the government’s request to pause at least one of those cases — the lawsuit over ICE detention conditions. Last week, an appellate judge paused the lawsuit against Maryland’s judges.

In each case, government lawyers filed nearly identical requests in the days after the shutdown began, noting they cannot work while they are not being paid.

RELATED: At center of shutdown fight, health care is intractable issue in Congress

“At the end of the day on September 30, 2025, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice (DOJ) expired and those appropriations to DOJ lapsed,” says one of those motions to stay. “The same is true for the majority of other Executive agencies. DOJ does not know when such funding will be restored by Congress.”

During a shutdown, criminal cases keep going while civil ones are generally stayed, according to the DOJ’s fiscal year 2026 contingency plan. Exceptions exist in cases that threaten the “safety of human life or the protection of property.”

In the case of the administration’s lawsuit against Maryland’s judges, the request to pause went unopposed and the judge granted them.

Not every request has been approved, though.

Judge James Bredar on Tuesday denied an unopposed DOJ motion to pause the Baltimore Police Department‘s consent decree.

And on Monday, a judge denied the government’s request to pause the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man from El Salvador who was wrongfully deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison and later returned. That came just days after Bloomberg Law reported that the DOJ was instructing prosecutors not to pause civil immigration cases during the shutdown.

The government also sought a pause in Ocean City’s lawsuit seeking to block a proposed wind farm; Maryland District Judge Stephanie Gallagher denied the motion, saying she would consider it at a Tuesday status conference. Online court records do not yet show if that case has been delayed.

And in the case alleging inhumane conditions at the ICE detention facility in Baltimore, the plaintiffs objected to the government’s request, saying the law and the contingency plan “plainly allow” for the continuation of the case.

They argued the exceptions allowing civil cases to continue apply to their case, and said the government is violating court orders regarding discovery — having missed a late-September deadline — and using the shutdown to delay disclosure further.

“Punitive” conditions, they argued, “pose a critical and ongoing threat to the health and safety of the hundreds of noncitizens who are detained at the Baltimore Hold Rooms every month.”

“It is only a matter of time before a detained individual with a serious medical condition suffers significant bodily harm or even death.”

Maryland District Judge Julie Rubin, in a Tuesday order, kept that case partially open as to the plaintiffs’ habeas claims, but allowed discovery to be paused. She noted that while the two plaintiffs seek to represent a class of current or former Baltimore detainees, they are currently the only plaintiffs and they are no longer being held in Baltimore.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, in a statement from a spokesperson, said the government was using the shutdown as an opportunity to “flout the law.”

“The law is clear: nothing excuses this Administration from its obligation to ensure people held in ICE custody are treated fairly and humanely,” said Van Hollen, a Democrat. “The Court should see this for what it is – yet another delay tactic and an attempt by the Trump Administration to flout the law. They must be held accountable.”

“The Justice Department must not use the shutdown to delay cases where life and liberty are at risk,” said Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat, in a statement provided by a spokesperson.

This story was updated to reference Ocean City‘s lawsuit seeking to block a proposed wind farm. It was also corrected to show the Baltimore police consent decree was not paused.