Federal public defenders would avoid the most dire budget scenarios under the fiscal 2024 funding package unveiled Thursday, with Congress set to spend tens of millions of dollars more than previous proposals from the House and Senate.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, alluding to the six-bill appropriations package, said federal defender offices would no longer be subject to a hiring freeze — a move that started last July amid uncertainty about fiscal 2024 funding.
Federal defenders, which are tasked with representing poor defendants, have said the hiring freeze stretched their resources and left them at the mercy of natural staff attrition.
