An overburdened judicial system was denied relief on Jan. 3 when outgoing President Joe Biden vetoed the JUDGES Act of 2024, which would have expanded the number of permanent federal district judges across three presidential administrations.
The bipartisan bill would have created 66 new judgeships. Their creation would have been staggered such that President-elect Trump would have been permitted to appoint more than 20 additional judges to the bench during his second term.
The bill had passed with an amendment in the Senate by unanimous consent, having been cosponsored by more than a half-dozen Democratic senators. After Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election, however, Biden withdrew his support.
Biden characterized the effort to add more judges as disingenuous in a statement accompanying his veto. “S. 4199 would create new judgeships…
