The former Acting Director of the Budget, Satia Aokuso Satia, clarified in a letter to Chief Justice Michael Kruse that the budget ceiling indicated for the Judiciary was intended only as a planning reference point.
He said it was never meant to “infringe upon the constitutional independence of the Judiciary or the appropriation authority of the Legislature.”
In a May 19 letter to Satia Aokuso Satia, Chief Justice Kruse said he had received the budget call memo instructing the Judicial branch to comply with the stipulated FY2026 ceiling figure of $3,292,000.
He wrote, “Please be advised that the Judiciary’s budget is, as it has always been in the past, dictated by its capacity needs to function. It is then left up to the Fono to determine the Judiciary’s allocation, not the Budget Office.”
Kruse emphasized that the “High Court, like the Fono, is not a government department amenable to executive influence, just as the Judiciary has no influence whatsoever on the Executive Branch’s perennial history of fiscal shortcomings.” He told Satia, “So please be […] advised that if you change or ‘final’ my numbers for Fono review, you do so at your own peril.”
Satia wrote to the Chief Justice in a May 27 letter to clarify the matter. He said, “We fully respect the Judiciary’s autonomy and its critical role in our system of governance. In line with longstanding practice, your proposed budget will be transmitted to the Fono without alteration from this office. Any reference to adjustments or finalization by the Budget Office in the memo was not directed at the Judiciary and will be revised for clarity in future communications.”
Satia pledged, “We remain committed to maintaining a constructive and respectful working relationship between the branches of government and will continue to support a transparent and independent budget process for the Judiciary.”
