Congress Weighs First District Court Expansion Since 1990 (1)

Competing congressional proposals to add federal judgeships give the judiciary a chance for its first comprehensive slate of trial court seats since then-Sen. Joe Biden spearheaded the last change decades ago.

The measures introduced in the Democratic-led House and Senate offer very different assessments of the need to add positions in the district court system, which is where much of federal court business is done.

The bipartisan JUDGES Act (S.2535) introduced in both chambers would give the judiciary the 77 new judgeships it requested over two presidential administrations and seems the more likely to win passage. The District Court Judgeships ...