Federal judiciary asks Congress for direct control over $8.3B in courthouse repairs

On Feb. 24, 2026, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts sent a formal letter and draft legislation to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees requesting Real Property Authority — the power to directly manage courthouse buildings instead of relying on the GSA.

The judiciary says GSA has allowed an $8.3 billion backlog of critical maintenance to accumulate over more than a decade. The deferred repairs include roofs, elevators, lighting, doors, and windows. Some emergency repairs, like storm and water damage, have taken years to complete under the current system.

Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., director of the Administrative Office, said: 'Federal courthouses are in crisis. Without immediate action, the problems will continue to worsen.' He described the current system as a 'downward spiral of critical-system failures, long-term underfunding of repairs, security risks, and climbing costs.'

The draft legislation would let the director of the Administrative Office notify GSA which court properties the judiciary wants to manage directly. The transfer would begin with no more than 10 judicial districts and expand gradually as the judiciary builds its own property management capacity.

GSA is an executive branch agency. If the judiciary controls its own buildings, it becomes less dependent on executive branch decisions about funding and maintenance priority — a form of institutional independence that matters especially as courts face pressure from the Trump administration over rulings on immigration, tariffs, and agency firings.

The federal court system has 37 judicial vacancies as of Feb. 25, 2026, with only three pending nominees. Judge TTTimothy Tymkovich testified that district court filings have grown 30% since 1990, while the number of authorized judgeships has grown only 4% over the same period. Courthouse deterioration compounds those delays.

Total bankruptcy filings rose 11% in the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2025, adding further caseload pressure. The judiciary has previously been forced to draw on fee reserves during government shutdowns — a precarious financial position that the Real Property Authority request is partly designed to address.