House Approves Bill for New Federal Judgeships

The House of Representatives passed a bill to add 66 federal district judgeships, though its future is uncertain due to President Biden's veto threat. The legislation, designed to distribute appointments over a decade, was initially a bipartisan effort but faced criticism from Democrats who accused Republicans of delaying the vote until after the election for political advantage. The bill passed the House with a 236-173 vote, predominantly supported by Republicans, while the Senate had previously approved it unanimously. Rep. Darrell Issa warned that failing to pass the bill could exacerbate backlog issues in federal courts, which are already costing businesses billions. Critics, including House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, emphasized the need for more judges due to the high volume of pending cases, while Democrats highlighted the broken bipartisan agreement on the timing of the vote. Without bipartisan support, the bill is unlikely to survive a veto override, given the insufficient majority in the House.