Proposal to Limit US Courthouse Size Advanced by House Panel

A US House panel advanced bipartisan legislation that would restrict the size of newly constructed federal courthouses as part of broader efforts to clamp down on federal spending.

The legislation (HR 3426), reported favorably Wednesday by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, would prohibit the construction of courthouses that don’t require judges to share courtrooms.

Under the proposal, courthouses with at least 10 active district judges should have two courtrooms for every three judges, though all courthouses of that size must have at least nine courtrooms.

The bill would also mandate a ratio of one courtroom per two judges for magistrate judges, bankruptcy judges, and semi-retired senior judges who take reduced caseloads, if the building has at least three of those types of judges.

Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), the bill’s sponsor, said the bill codifies the Trump administration’s approach to “rightsizing the federal government.”

The measure was co-sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

The proposal’s advancement follows a November watchdog report that found newly revised design standards by the judiciary could make courthouses almost 6% larger and raise construction costs by around 12%. The judiciary has asked Congress for $863 million for courthouse construction projects in fiscal 2026, which begins in October.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle scrutinized those standards at a committee hearing in May.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who chairs the subcommittee on economic development, described a “long history of taxpayer dollars wasted on overbuilt federal courthouses.” Norton also raised concerns at that hearing that courtrooms across the country were underutilized.

US District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby of the Northern District of New York, chair of the Judicial Conference’s committee on space and facilities who testified at the hearing, defended judges’ need to be able to access a courtroom when needed even if they sometimes sit empty.