Yesterday the White House issued a statement by President Biden indicating he is vetoing the JUDGES Act, bipartisan legislation to create additional district court judgeships.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously in August, and a bipartisan House majority followed suit shortly after the election. It would have created 66 new district court seats over the next decade. The bill is based upon the recommendations of the Judicial Conference and was endorsed by the Federal Bar Association and Federal Judges Association. Even Fix the Court liked it, calling the veto threat "weird."
The veto statement reads as follows:
I am returning herewith without my approval S. 4199, the "Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act of 2024" or the "JUDGES Act of 2024."
S. 4199 seeks to hastily add judgeships with just a few weeks left in the 118th Congress. The House of Representative's hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships. The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges.
S. 4199 would create new judgeships in States where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies. Those efforts to hold open vacancies suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now.
Therefore, I am vetoing this bill.
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