Biden Vetoes Bipartisan Bill to Add Federal Judgeships

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Facts

  • US Pres. Joe Biden on Monday vetoed legislation that would have added 66 new federal district judgeships across 25 courts in 13 states. This would have been the first major judiciary expansion since 1990.[1]
  • The JUDGES Act had passed unanimously in the Democratic-led Senate in August, but wasn't passed until December by the Republican-controlled House. Biden threatened a veto based on the House waiting until after Pres.-elect Donald Trump's win in the Nov. 5 election.[2][3]
  • Legislators structured the bill to spread new appointments across three presidential administrations and six Congresses through 2035 in an effort to calm worries that any single party would gain advantage.[1]
  • Because federal caseloads have increased by more than 30% since Congress last passed comprehensive judiciary expansion legislation, hundreds of judges from both parties advocated for the bill.[1]
  • Biden cited the House's "hurried action" and unresolved questions about allocating judgeships as primary reasons for the veto. He particularly questioned how senior status and magistrate judges affect the need for new positions.[2]
  • A veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to be overridden. The House vote fell well short of this threshold, effectively ending the legislation's chances in the current Congress. Biden has vetoed 13 bills, the most since the Clinton administration.[2][4]

Sources: [1]NBC, [2]Associated Press, [3]Reuters and [4]Washington Examiner.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News and Bloomberg Law. This is partisan politics at its worst. Biden is denying relief to the country's severely understaffed courts. Legislators and organizations from both sides of the political aisle agree that this expansion is critically needed. But Biden appears more concerned with denying judgeships from his political rival Pres.-elect Trump than helping the country.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by The New York Times and Washington Post. The only ones playing politics with the legislation are the Republicans, who held off on passing it in the House until they knew their party would control the White House. This is no longer a bipartisan bill — it's a gift to Trump to further give the judiciary a conservative bias that won't dole out justice equally.