The three federal prosecutors overseeing investigations into former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and the president’s son Hunter Biden will keep working — and continue to get paid — if the US government shutters in the coming days.
Millions of federal workers are bracing to be sent home or work without pay absent a last-minute deal between House Republicans and the Biden administration before the 2024 fiscal year starts Oct. 1. But Congress decades ago approved a “permanent indefinite appropriation” to cover the expenses of Justice Department special counsels that isn’t tied to the annual federal spending package.
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More than 6,000 Justice Department employees will continue to work with pay because their funding comes from alternative sources, according to the agency’s contingency plan. That figure includes attorneys and staff specially hired by the Trump and Biden special counsels or who were temporarily detailed from US attorney offices and other units.
The shutdown memo noted 18 special counsel employees will continue to work with pay, but it was unclear whether that included those detailed from other assignments as well as direct hires; a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
A number of other department employees who support the special counsels but who aren’t paid by those offices — FBI agents, analysts, and security details, for example — are expected to stay on the job but may not get paychecks, at least not until the shutdown is over. DOJ said that 96,666 workers making up 84% of all employees will be exempt from a furlough.
There are three active special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. John “Jack” Smith is overseeing investigations into Trump related to the 2020 election and the former president’s handling of classified information. Both probes are ongoing as prosecutors also press ahead with indictments against Trump in federal courts in Florida and Washington. Smith, appointed in November, spent $5.4 million on compensation and other expenses in his first four months on the job.
Robert Hur is leading an investigation into Joe Biden’s handling of classified material after his time as vice president and as a US senator. No charges have been brought to date. Appointed in January, Hur had spent $615,962 as of the end of March.
The newest special counsel, David Weiss, is leading the probe into Hunter Biden. Weiss, who is also the US attorney in Delaware, has been running that investigation since 2018 but was only appointed as special counsel in August. His office indicted Hunter Biden in Delaware on federal gun charges in mid-September and could file a separate tax case in the coming weeks.
The various courts handling the criminal cases against Trump and Hunter Biden are also expected to stay open in the event of a shutdown. The federal judiciary’s administrative arm has said it has enough money through fees and other sources to continue operating for at least two weeks.