On Dec. 27, 2018, pursuant to a request from the Department of Justice, Chief Judge Jose Linares of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a standing order suspending almost all non-criminal matters in which the United States is a party, due to the current federal government shutdown, which includes the Department of Justice. The order contained an exception for all pending Social Security cases and for one particular civil case, Federal Trade Commission v. Gerber, (a deceptive trade practices case that, according to the docket, is still in the discovery period with dispositive motions due in March and a final pretrial conference in July).

The order also provides that “Any litigant affected by this Order may seek relief from the Order by motion,” and that the standing order can be modified in a particular case by separate ruling.