Dem
49
GOP
51
When we saw that the Senate had unanimously approved a bill to create more federal judgeships, we had to go back and reread it another four times before believing it. Senators from both parties agree with Thomas Jefferson that justice delayed is justice denied, but surely the Senate Republicans aren't going to allow Joe Biden to suddenly appoint a whole boatload of new judges. Turns out, they aren't, but they do realize that cases are taking too long and people are sitting in jail for months waiting for their trial and people who are injured often give up on civil cases because the case never moves forward.
The trick the bill uses to make it palatable to Republicans is that the judgeships would not all be created the day the bill is signed. They will be phased in slowly over 10 years, starting in 2025 and ending in 2035. No one knows now how many of those years will have Democratic presidents and how many will have Republican presidents. So the bill presents both opportunity and danger to the Republicans. Also, all federal judges have to be confirmed by the Senate, and many Republicans believe that their long-term prospects in the Senate look good due to the large number of red states in the South, Midwest, and West.
The bill, known as the JUDGES Act ("Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved" Act) would create 66 new federal judge positions, focused on the most overburdened districts. Many judges around the country have complained about the unbearable workload, with the consequence that justice is ill-served. No new judgeships have been created since 1990, while the number of cases has grown by 30% since then.
So, once in a while, Congress can actually do something for the good of the country? Well, no. The House may not even take up the bill even though it is relatively noncontroversial. Why not? Because in September, the House will mostly be occupied with messaging bills that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wants votes on solely for the purpose of making Democrats take difficult votes the Republicans can campaign against. So there is no time for legislating, even on things all the senators agree is important and urgent. There's also the small matter of the budget, which theoretically needs to be addressed (even if that means kicking the can down the road) by the end of September. In October, everyone in the House will want to go home to campaign.
The chances of the bill passing in the next session of Congress are very low because then it will be known who the president is. Members of the party that does not control the White House will vote against the bill. Right now it could pass because members of each party think there is a 50% chance their president will get to make the nominations. So a perfectly good bill that most members want gets killed by politics. In other words, it is business as usual. (V)