Judiciary asks House appropriators for $9.4 billion in FY2026, warns of security, defender and IT shortfalls

Witnesses for the federal judiciary told the House Appropriations subcommittee that the branch is seeking about $9.4 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026 to address rising threats to judges, understaffed public defender offices, and aging IT and courthouse infrastructure.

"An effective, efficient, and independent judiciary is foundational to the system of our government," Judge Amy St. Eve, chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Budget, said during the hearing. She outlined the Judicial Conference's budget request and said much of the increase is to maintain current services after two years of frozen funding.

The request the judiciary submitted to Congress includes roughly $6.9 billion for courts and probation and pretrial services, approximately $1.8 billion for defender services, and about $892 million for the court security program, according to testimony from the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Officials said those figures reflect both inflation and specific program needs: much of the courts-and-probation increase was described as adjustments to maintain current…