The tsunami of Trump lawsuits could be another victim of the government shutdown, as the Justice Department fanned out to federal courts across the country Wednesday, asking judges to put the cases on hold.

Government lawyers said there is no money to work non-emergency cases, so anything not involving the safety of human life or the protection of property is a no-go right now.

Lawyers said that means they cannot work cases where they are defending the president’s executive actions, nor can they work on proactive lawsuits the Trump administration filed against states and localities, such as over sanctuary laws protecting illegal immigrants.

“Therefore, although we greatly regret any disruption caused to the court and the other litigants, the government hereby moves for a stay of proceedings in this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions,” government lawyers said in one case challenging Minnesota’s immigration-related policies.

Among the cases the government asked to pause are Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s bid in Maryland to halt his deportation, arguments in lower courts over President Trump’s plans to curtail recognition of birthright citizenship, restrictions on transgender juveniles’ access to gender-related treatments and limits on wind energy projects.

The lawyers, in some cases, are taking pains to blame Congress, saying it’s up to Capitol Hill to turn on the funding spigot again.

The shutdown began early Wednesday after Congress failed to pass spending bills to keep the government operating into the new fiscal year.

The government had been running largely on 2024 levels of spending, after Congress in March passed what’s known as a continuing resolution.

Congressional Democrats, however, rejected another “clean” continuing resolution this time, insisting that Congress approve an extension of enhanced Obamacare benefits to keep the rest of the government open.

Congressional Republicans balked at that idea.

Both sides have rejected each other’s proposals.

Hundreds of thousands of employees are shutting down their work and going on furlough, and buildings are shuttering.

Also shutting down on Wednesday were the websites of some inspectors general.

That includes the watchdogs for the IRS and the Justice Department, which each posted messages saying they were offline.

“Due to a lack of apportionment of funds, this website is currently unavailable,” the notices read.

Other agency pages were still up, though some made clear that they aren’t being updated. The Justice Department’s web page was particularly blunt in placing blame: “Democrats have shut down the government. Department of Justice websites are not currently regularly updated.”

Request to pause Trump lawsuits will require judges’ consent, and results were mixed on Wednesday, with some judges accommodating the administration and others refusing the delay.

Some of the opponents in those cases said they agreed with the pause.

But other litigants have objected.

Rhode Island, which sued the Trump administration over new limits to wind energy projects, said the government was wrong in saying it cannot work civil cases during a shutdown. The state said if a judge orders the case to remain on track, that becomes a “legal authorization” to work.

“Here, the defendants are scheduled to file their opposition to the preliminary injunction motion today. And the state plaintiffs have explained that they need timely relief from this court in order to prevent imminent, irreparable harm to their states,” Rhode Island’s lawyers argued.