The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday pumped the brakes on lawsuits challenging Trump administration policies amid the government's shutdown, citing its own need to preserve resources while the funding impasse persists.

The court's chief judge James Boasberg issued a standing order extending upcoming deadlines in litigation involving the federal government past the shutdown's end. The order does not extend to instances where the challenger is seeking emergency relief.

Pointing to the "significant volume" of civil matters involving the government, Boasberg signaled the order is intended to stave off a deluge of government requests to pause individual cases — a scenario that might waste the court's already "scarce" resources.

"The Court has a need to minimize expenditures of scarce judicial........

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