President Joe Biden on Monday vetoed the “JUDGES Act,” a bipartisan bill that aimed to create 66 new federal judicial positions over the next three presidential terms. The legislation, spearheaded by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), sought to address the mounting backlog of cases in federal courts. However, Biden rejected the measure, citing unresolved questions about how the new judgeships would be distributed.
“The House of Representatives’ hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation,” Biden said, emphasizing the need for a deeper review of how senior and magistrate judges currently affect judicial workloads.
The bill had passed the Democratic-controlled Senate unanimously over the summer but faced dwindling Democratic support after President-elect Donald Trump’s November victory. The GOP-led House approved the measure earlier this month, with 29 Democrats joining Republicans in voting for it.
Senator Coons expressed frustration, blaming House Republicans for delaying the bill’s passage until after the election. “The Senate did its part in August,” Coons said. “But the House’s timing turned this into a partisan issue, and now the White House is vetoing the bill.”
Senator Young criticized the veto as politically motivated. “The JUDGES Act is a fair bill with strong bipartisan support. This veto is partisan politics at its worst,” he said, accusing Biden of prioritizing personal matters over judicial reform.
Biden’s decision reflects the heightened tensions surrounding judicial appointments. Trump, who previously appointed three Supreme Court justices and numerous lower court judges, is poised to shape the judiciary further in his upcoming term. Biden’s veto ensures Trump won’t have immediate opportunities to appoint the first batch of 22 judges outlined in the bill, but it leaves unresolved issues of judicial understaffing across the nation.
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