White House officials said Tuesday that President Biden will veto a bipartisan measure that would have appointed more federal judges nationwide, raising questions about the true “driving force” behind the bill as President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to take office.
In August the Senate unanimously passed the Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Resolved (JUDGES) Act, which was co-sponsored by Democrats and Republicans and would authorize the next three presidential administrations to appoint 66 federal district judges to understaffed states. . Huge backlog of cases.
The White House argued in a statement released by the Office of Management and Budget, “While judicial staffing is critical to the rule of law, S. 4199 is unnecessary for the efficient and effective administration of justice.”
“This bill would create new judgeships in states where senators have sought to keep existing judicial vacancies open. Those efforts to keep vacancies open show that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true driving force behind the passage of this bill.
The House is considering the legislation this week, more than four months after it was passed by the Senate.
The White House noted that Trump won re-election before the bill was brought up in the GOP-controlled lower chamber, apparently claiming it was a way for the soon-to-be 47th president to get more judicial appointments. There was political motivation.
“Hastily adding judges with just weeks left in the 118th Congress will fail to resolve important questions in the law, particularly how judges are allocated,” the statement said.
Biden, 82, has promised to engage in a peaceful transition of power and has been in touch with Trump, 78, about setting up his team in the White House for a second time – even as the soon-to-be 47th president faces Republicans Senators also met to block Democratic judicial nominees in the dysfunctional session of Congress.
“Democrats are trying Filling the courts with radical leftist judges On his way out the door, Trump expressed his condolences on his Truth social account in late November after winning office. “Republican senators need to step up and stay in line – no more judges will be confirmed before Inauguration Day!”
The tension over blocking the JUDGES Act has been felt on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers moving quickly to criticize Biden’s intention to veto the bipartisan measure.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), one of the bill’s cosponsors, said, “President Biden has threatened to veto my Judges Act of 2024, which would address the judicial crisis that requires Americans to get their rights in court. One has to wait for the day for years.” mourned x,
“I am deeply disappointed by the Biden administration’s threat to veto the Judges Act. This bill passed unanimously in the Senate, reflecting broad bipartisan support for addressing an urgent issue facing our judiciary.” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) couple,
But Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) agreed with Democrats’ assessment that the House acted wrongly in waiting until the election was over to act on the bill.
“My colleagues and I urged him to take it,” Nadler said Monday. “We explained the stakes. They knew that bipartisan support to create the desperately needed new judgeships would only exist if the bill was passed into law before November 5, but they refused.
Trump’s team did not respond to inquiries from The Post.
(TagstoTranslate)Politics(T)US News(T)Joe Biden(T)Judges(T)Veto
