Federal judiciary leaders and some members of Congress have criticized President Biden for vetoing a bill that would have added 66 new federal judges amid rising caseloads.
Biden on Monday made good on his promise to veto the Justices Act, which originally had broad support from both parties but stalled until after the election.
The bill would have added new federal judges to 13 states in phases every two years by 2035. President-elect Trump's victory means he had the right to nominate about 24 new seats during his term in the White House.
In his veto message, Biden suggested that case numbers were “not the real motive behind passing this bill at this time,” and that the Senate had secured an existing vacancy ahead of Trump's inauguration. He pointed out that it would create a new judgeship in the state where the proposed law is being held.
“S. 4199 calls for more judges in a hurry with just weeks left in the 118th Congress. The House's hasty action fails to resolve important questions in the bill,” Biden said. I wrote it.
Judge Robert Conrad of the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts called Biden's veto “extremely disappointing” and said the addition of judges “is necessary for the efficient and effective administration of justice.”
“This is not a hastily put together bill. Rather, it is a careful and detailed bill that primarily takes into account the weighted caseload per active judge in each jurisdiction, but also takes into account the contributions of senior judges, magistrate judges, and visiting judges. This is the result of our analysis,” Conrad said in a statement.
“This veto is a departure from the long-established pattern of approving justice bills that give sitting presidents new judgeships. This is contrary to the actions of the senator,” Conrad added.
Mr. Conrad's office is overseen by the Judicial Council, the policy-making arm of the federal judiciary. This conference recommended to Congress the addition of judges and spurred the introduction of the Judges Act.
The number of pending federal civil lawsuits has increased 346% over the past 20 years, with about 82,000 cases pending as of March, according to data released by the federal judiciary.
law It passed unanimously in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Although the bill was voted yes in August, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives did not vote on it until this month, after Trump's victory. Biden threatened to veto the bill, which ultimately passed 236-173 with most House Democrats voting against it.
After the election, judicial advocates continued to pressure Biden to sign the bill. federal judges associationis chaired by Michelle Childs, a Biden-appointed federal appeals court judge who was rumored to be on the president's Supreme Court nominee list.
Gabe Ross, executive director of the judicial watchdog group Fix the Court, which supports the bill and is a prominent advocate of ethics reform in the judiciary, said Biden's veto “does nothing to his legacy. It is of no use.”
“President Biden’s veto of the Judges Act is an embarrassing end to an otherwise productive four years of judicial reform,” Ross said in a statement.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who sponsored the bill, said Biden's veto was “partisan politics at its worst” and went on to call the president's pardon for his son Hunter Biden. It was activated.
“The president is more intent on using his office to rescue families who have received due process than he is to rescue millions of ordinary Americans who have been waiting years for due process. ” Young wrote to X.
