President Biden vetoed the JUDGES Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing the federal judiciary’s growing caseload by adding 66 new judgeships.
Critics say the move prioritizes partisan politics over the urgent need for judicial reform, leaving Americans waiting longer for justice.
The legislation, which passed with broad bipartisan support in the Democratic-controlled Senate earlier this year, sought to create additional federal judgeships in 13 states through a phased approach by 2035.
However, the bill only recently gained enough traction to pass the House with a 236-173 vote.
Despite its passage, Biden had long threatened to veto the bill, claiming the timing and motivation behind it were politically driven.
In his veto message, Biden argued that “caseload is not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now,” suggesting that lawmakers aimed to allow President-elect Donald Trump to appoint a significant portion of the new judgeships during his upcoming term.
Biden labeled the bill’s timing “hasty” and criticized the House for failing to address “key questions” within the legislation.
Judicial Leaders Condemn the Decision
Judge Robert Conrad, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, blasted Biden’s veto as a “major setback” for the efficient administration of justice.
“This is not a bill that was hastily put together. It reflects detailed analysis of caseloads, contributions of senior judges, and other judicial factors,” Conrad said.
He also criticized Biden for deviating from historical precedents, noting that as a senator, Biden himself had supported similar bills that expanded the judiciary under other presidents.
The Judicial Conference, the policymaking body for federal courts, had recommended the additional judgeships, citing an alarming rise in federal civil cases.
Over the past 20 years, pending cases have surged by 346 percent, with over 82,000 unresolved cases as of March 2024.
Judicial advocates warned that without additional judgeships, delays in the judicial process will continue to burden ordinary Americans.
A Partisan Flashpoint
Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana, who helped champion the JUDGES Act, called Biden’s veto a glaring example of “partisan politics at its worst.”
Young went further, invoking the president’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, to underscore what he views as misplaced priorities.
“The President is more enthusiastic about using his office to provide relief to his family members who received due process than he is about giving relief to millions of regular Americans waiting years for theirs,” Young posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The veto has also drawn criticism from prominent judicial advocates. Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court, a nonpartisan judicial watchdog, called Biden’s decision an “embarrassing end to what has otherwise been a productive four years of reshaping the judiciary.”
Petty and partisan describes Biden to a T
In case you don’t know much about the law most cases brought before a Federal Judge or any judge for that matter could be handled by a free internet AP. That’s right. There are programs right now that can apply the “strict rule of law” for every criminal act within a few seconds. This is even before AI became the new buzzword of the MSM. Laws and law books are already assembled into massive data bases easily sorted and searched to find the appropriate decision. Judges are obsolete and their nonsense about taking hours, days and months to arrive at a decision is pure “phony grandstanding”. The law is the law with few exceptions, which is all judges do. Their personal biases are the only thing they add to the mix. I believe we have an Amendment that guarantees a speedy trial but we will never get it with the nonsense and games that are played by “judges”.