President Biden on Monday vetoed a bill that would have added 66 federal district judgeships over a span of more than a decade, a once-bipartisan effort designed so that neither political party would have an advantage in molding the federal judiciary.
Three presidential administrations, beginning with the incoming Trump administration, and six Congresses would have had the opportunity to appoint the new trial court judgeships, according to the legislation, which had support from organizations representing judges and attorneys.
Despite arguments from the organizations that additional judgeships would help with cases that have seen serious delays in resolution and ease concerns over access to justice, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill.
In a statement, Biden said he made his decision because the ‘hurried action’ by the House of Representatives left open questions about ‘life-tenured’ positions.
‘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,’ Biden said.
‘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,’ Biden added.
He said the bill would also have created new judgeships in states where senators have not filled existing judicial vacancies and that those efforts ‘suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now.
When Biden’s plan to veto the legislation surfaced earlier this month, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told ‘America’s Newsroom’ that the act is ‘the last spasm of a lame-duck.’
‘President Biden and his team don’t want to allow it to become law simply because a Republican administration would get to appoint some of the judges,’ Kennedy said.
‘I wish they’d put the country first,’ the senator added.
The legislation was passed unanimously in August under the Democratic-controlled Senate, though the Republican-led House brought the measure to the floor only after Donald Trump was reelected president in November, creating an air of political gamesmanship.
Biden’s veto essentially shelves the legislation for the current Congress.
Overturning Biden’s veto would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, and the House vote fell well short of that margin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.