Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C.
–
U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.)
,
a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate’s only former Public Defender
, alongside
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.)
,
a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee
, led a group of 26 Senators in calling on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government leadership to provide additional funding to the Federal Defender Services program in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill.
In their letter, the Senators urge Subcommittee leadership to fully fund the program at $1.79 billion, a modest 1.5% increase over FY26 funding levels, to maintain baseline constitutional requirements for federal public defense.
“The Federal Defender Services program supports our constitutionally-based adversarial system of justice in which federal criminal laws and federally guaranteed rights are equally enforced,”
wrote the Senators
. “The Defender Services program has a history of bipartisan support. This essential funding supports more than 4,000 attorneys, investigators, paralegals, and support personnel throughout the 83 federal defender organizations serving 92 of 94 judicial districts. It also supports the approximately 12,000 CJA-contracted panel attorneys who represent indigent individuals. Importantly, the work done by these legal professionals is entirely non-partisan—federal defenders and panel attorneys alike represent everyone regardless of political affiliation.”
The Senators continued
: “Funding for the Federal Defender Services program is also cost effective. Given the constitutional right to counsel regardless of ability to pay, courts that do not have federal defenders must employ private CJA attorneys, often at a higher cost to the taxpayer. An overwhelming majority of federal defender budgets are dedicated to personnel and space, leaving limited funds available for other case essentials. A properly funded federal public defense system enhances the confidence of everyone who has an interest in an efficient, reliable, and fair criminal justice system, including crime victims and the public at large. Failure to properly fund this important program results in delayed processing of criminal cases, backlogs in U.S. Attorneys Offices and in federal courts, increased costs, and lengthier appellate reviews.”
“We thank you for both the inclusion of an anomaly for Defender Services in the FY 2026 Continuing Resolution and full funding in the FY 2026 appropriations bill. After several years of chronic underfunding, these funds allowed for the end of a two-year-long hard hiring freeze, along with critical infrastructure and cyber-security investments,”
the Senators wrote
. “Just as importantly, inclusion of these funds facilitated payment for past work performed by CJA panel attorneys—who are largely small businesspeople reliant on timely compensation— and established a degree of stability in payment for these services going forward through FY 2026. A modest 1.5% increase in FY 2027 is necessary to sustain these important priorities.”
The Senators concluded
: “As you consider the FY27 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, we urge you to continue supporting this important program and to provide much needed stability for a system that has experienced significant strain over the past several years.”
The Federal Defender Services program serves is an integral part of the federal judicial system, securing access to counsel and providing other necessary defense services for those who cannot afford counsel. The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney in criminal proceedings. The
Criminal Justice Act (CJA)
provides that courts appoint counsel from Federal Public and Community Defender Organizations or from a panel of private attorneys established by the court. Well over 90% of defendants in federal court cannot afford to hire their own attorney. As the Executive Branch pursues increased federal prosecutions, including capital cases, it is essential to ensure a stable flow of funding for the Defender Services Office.
Joining Senators Welch and Ossoff on the letter are Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Read and download
the lawmakers’ full letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government leadership.
Senator Welch previously led bicameral lawmakers in writing to Senate Appropriations Committee leadership to urge robust funding for federal defenders in the
FY26
and
FY25
appropriations bills. As a result of the Senator’s efforts, federal defender programs were fully funded in FY26. Last month, Senator Welch was
honored with the 2026 American Bar Association (ABA) Justice Award
for his fight to fully fund federal defender programs.
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