Following this morning’s JUDGES Act vote in the House, Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth issued the following statement:

“Fix the Court applauds today’s bipartisan House passage of the JUDGES Act. We have long supported a staggered, unknown-president approach to increasing lower-court judgeships, and not knowing who’s going to appoint nearly two-thirds of the new positions — if not more, given that Democratic blue slips cover 12 of the 22 permanent judgeships in the first two tranches — maintains that framework as best as can be expected given Senate delays in the summer and House delays in the fall.”

(To expect the House to pass the bill during the 13 days after Senate passage and before the election that the House was in session, during which they had to finalize and pass a government funding measure, is not realistic.)

“Given the bill’s bipartisan origins, its broad support among Democratic judicial appointees and its importance to Delaware, whose federal court would get two new judgeships — a 50 percent increase — I expect President Biden to reconsider his veto threat. I doubt he’d want increased backlogs and reduced courtroom access to be part of this judicial legacy.

“Finally, it’s rich that some groups who claim to care about justice are seeking to block a bill that would so obviously and effectively increase Americans’ access to justice. It’s an embarrassment when ideological purity trumps support for effective governance, no matter which side is doing it.”