Lame-duck Biden threatens to veto a bipartisan plan allowing Trump to select more federal judges

White House officials announced Tuesday that President Biden would reject a bipartisan bill that would have filled additional federal judgeships nationwide, casting doubt on the bill’s actual driving force as President-elect Donald Trump assumes office.

The Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved (JUDGES) Act, co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, was passed by the Senate unanimously in August. It would have permitted the next three presidential administrations to appoint 66 federal district judges to understaffed states with a backlog of cases.

Despite the fact that judicial staffing is crucial to the rule of law, the White House stated in a statement from the Office of Management and Budget that S. 4199 was not required for the efficient and effective administration of justice.

In places where senators have been working to preserve current judgeships open, the plan would create new ones. These attempts to maintain open positions imply that concerns about the expense and volume of cases judges are handling are not the true drivers for the current passage of this bill.

The House is considering the bill this week, some four months after the Senate passed it.

The White House noted that Trump was re-elected prior to the bill being addressed in the GOP-controlled lower house. They appeared to be arguing that there was a political justification for giving the 47th president additional judicial selections.

The statement claimed that hastily adding judges with just a few weeks remaining in the 118th Congress would not address crucial issues in the legislation, particularly with the judges’ assignments.

Biden, 82, and Trump, 78, have been discussing assembling his team for the second time in the White House. At the same time, during the lame-duck session of Congress, Trump requested that Republican senators reject Democratic court nominees.

“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump lamented on his Truth Social account in late November, following his election victory. Republican senators must speak out against the confirmation of additional judges before January 20th!

The stalemated JUDGES Act is causing tension on Capitol Hill. Biden’s intention to veto the bipartisan package was swiftly criticized by lawmakers.

President Biden just threatened to veto my JUDGES Act of 2024, which would put an end to the judicial crisis that has Americans waiting years for their day in court, according to Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, on X.

I am deeply saddened by the Biden Administration’s threat to veto the JUDGES Act. This bill passed the Senate unanimously, showing that people from both parties agree that we need to fix an urgent problem with our judiciary, said Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma).

However, Democrats including Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) agreed that the House was unjust for delaying action on the bill until after the election.

On Monday, Nadler stated, I pleaded with my colleagues to take it up. We explained the situation to them. They refused to sign the bill into law before November 5th, even though they knew that both parties would approve the addition of much-needed new judgeships.

Trump’s team did not respond to a question posed by The Post.

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