The Hill: White House says Biden would veto bill adding judicial seats

[Dennis Donovan]

The Hill - White House says Biden would veto bill adding judicial seats

by Brett Samuels - 12/11/24 9:24 AM ET



The White House said Tuesday that President Biden would veto a bipartisan bill that would create dozens of new judicial seats in the coming years, raising questions about the motivations behind the bill and its timing.

In a statement of administration policy, the White House threatened a veto against the JUDGES Act, which passed the Senate in August by unanimous consent. The bill would add 66 federal court seats over the next decade, with the intention of lightening caseloads, particularly in high volume places like California and Texas.

“The bill would create new judgeships in states where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies,” the White House said in a statement. “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.”

The White House also raised concerns about the timing of the bill’s potential passage, noting that the Senate passed the legislation in August, but the GOP-led House did not take it up until after the election, which was won by President-elect Trump.

“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 White House said.

/snip

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Too much caseload? Use computer.

Why do courts get slower and slower? Or maybe it's just perception. I feel they've not improved efficiency very much, at a pace consistent with the rest of society.