EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR A STAY OF THE MARCH 8, 2019 DEADLINE FOR HEARING DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS IN LIGHT OF LAPSE OF APPROPRIATIONS AND PROPOSED ORDER

KIMBERLY J. MUELLER, District Judge.

The United States of America hereby moves for a stay of the March 8, 2019 hearing date and related briefing for dispositive motions and in the above-captioned case. The date was established in the Court's Order of September 14, 2018 (ECF 66).

1. At the end of the day on December 21, 2018, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice expired and appropriations to the Department lapsed. The same is true for several other Executive agencies. The Department does not know when funding will be restored by Congress.

2. Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property." 31 U.S.C. § 1342.

3. Under the Local Rules, a dispositive motion must be filed at least 28 days before the hearing date. L.R. 230(b). As a result, any dispositive motions to be heard on the March 8, 2019 date must be filed on or before February 8, 2019. In order to meet that deadline, given the substantive nature of the proposed motion, the undersigned counsel would have to be diligently working on the motion at this time. The extended elapse in appropriations, twenty-seven days as of the date of this filing, has prevented counsel from completing any of the requisite document drafting and exhibit preparation. Counsel cannot predict when appropriations to the Department will be restored.

4. Undersigned counsel for the Department of Justice therefore requests a stay of the March 8, 2019 deadline for hearing dispositive motions until Congress has restored appropriations to the Department.

5. If this motion for a stay is granted, undersigned counsel will notify the Court as soon as Congress has appropriated funds for the Department. The Government requests that, at that point, all current deadlines for the parties be extended commensurate with the duration of the lapse in appropriations, or as provided by the Court. The undersigned counsel requests that the Court allow the parties to confer and submit a joint status report with proposed briefing schedule(s).

6. Opposing counsel has authorized counsel for the Government to state that the City of Lincoln has no objection to this motion.

Therefore, although we greatly regret any disruption caused to the Court and the other litigants, the Government hereby moves for a stay of the March 8, 2019 deadline for hearing dispositive motions and related briefing in this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on January 18, 2019, the foregoing document was filed via the U.S. District Court's CM/ECF electronic filing system:

ORDER

Having come before this Court on the Government's Ex Parte Application to Stay the March 8, 2019 hearing date and briefing for dispositive motions due to lapse in federal appropriations and good cause having been shown, the Court hereby grants the Ex Parte Application in part. The March 8, 2019 hearing date for dispositive motions is vacated and reset for April 19, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom No. 3.

IT IS SO ORDERED.