U.S. Attorneys Told to Ditch Microwaves

Couple of interesting points from the Los Angeles Times report today on yesterday's hearings about staffing shortages in U.S. attorney's offices:

• In L.A., 40 out of 190 assistant U.S. attorney positions are vacant. A member of the office there told the paper that while the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration are on hiring sprees, the cases their arrests generate often stall for lack of prosecutors.
• At the L.A. office, basic supplies like envelopes and binder clips are hard to come by. And attorneys have been told to remove microwaves and small refrigerators from their offices because the General Services Administration has threatened to raise the rent due to high energy bills.