The radical Left are trying to Trump-proof the next four years. But they aren’t getting away with it that easily.
And now Republicans are furious after the White House made this shocking announcement.
The House is poised to vote Wednesday on a bill that would significantly expand the number of district court judges, but the measure faces a potential veto from President Biden, turning what was once a bipartisan effort into a contentious political battle.
The legislation, introduced by Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana, is known as the Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act, or JUDGES Act. The bill, which sailed through the Senate with unanimous approval earlier this year, proposes adding 63 permanent district court judgeships and three temporary positions over the next decade.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana championed the bill during his weekly press conference, highlighting the dire need to alleviate the overwhelming caseload burdening the federal judiciary.
“More judges means more Americans can access equal and impartial justice without waiting years to get it,” Johnson said. “I’m excited to see this bill pass. I used to be a federal court litigator, and I can tell you, it’s desperately needed.”
Indeed, the creation of new judgeships has been overdue. Congress hasn’t added any new district court positions in over two decades and hasn’t undertaken an expansion on the scale proposed by the JUDGES Act in more than 30 years.
In that time, district court filings have surged by 30%, and as of last spring, nearly 700,000 cases were pending across the nation’s 94 district courts, which currently operate with 677 judgeships, including 10 temporary posts.
The bill’s rollout staggers the appointment of judges over several years, with President-elect Donald Trump set to nominate 22 new district court judges during his upcoming term.
This allocation has sparked a partisan clash, with Democrats accusing Republicans of timing the bill to benefit their party’s incoming administration.
Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, blasted House Republicans for delaying the bill’s vote until after Election Day, undermining what he described as the bipartisan agreement behind the legislation.
“The Senate did its part and passed the bill last summer, but House Republican leadership was unwilling to take a chance on their own candidate and refused to bring the bill to the floor until now, after the election,” Nadler said during a House Rules Committee meeting.
“Thus, the agreement central to the JUDGES Act—that the opportunity to appoint new judges be given to an unknown future president—is now broken.”
The White House echoed Nadler’s concerns in a veto threat issued by the Office of Management and Budget, accusing Republicans of ulterior motives.
The administration’s statement suggested the timing was intended to allow Trump to fill newly created judgeships while bypassing broader concerns about judicial efficiency and fairness.
“Hastily adding judges with just a few weeks left in the 118th Congress would fail to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the judges are allocated,” the statement read.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky dismissed the White House’s position, arguing that a veto would be purely partisan.
“It’s almost inconceivable that a lame-duck president could consider vetoing such an obviously prudential step for any reason other than selfish spite,” McConnell said.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio also dismissed Biden’s veto threat, pointing out that half of the appointments Trump would make are in states with two Democratic senators, ensuring bipartisan input in the selection process.
States like Delaware, California, and New Jersey would gain new judgeships in the coming years if the bill passes. “I don’t know what could be more fair,” Jordan said.
Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.
