US lawmakers have been unable to agree a federal budget because Democratic Party representatives will not agree to President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

The Democrats won a majority in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections last November, though President Trump’s Republicans held their majority in the Senate.

The Administrative Office of the US Courts has estimated that the federal courts can sustain funded operations until Friday 25 January 2019, having previously expected judiciary funding to run out tomorrow.

Once the money runs out, the US federal courts will rely on unpaid staff to perform critical operations.

In recent weeks, courts and federal public defender offices have delayed or deferred non-critical expenses, such as new hires, non-case related travel, and certain contracts. Judiciary employees are reporting to work and have been fully paid.

In response to requests by the Department of Justice, some federal courts have issued orders suspending or postponing civil cases in which the government is a party, and others have declined to do so. Criminal cases are expected to proceed uninterrupted.