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12 ¦ JULY 6, 2020 NEWS

Senators See Path for Bipartisan,
Election-Year Deal on More Judges

By Jacqueline Thomsen

Leaders on the Senate Judiciary
Committee are pushing to quick-
ly pass a measure to create more
federal judgeships, eyeing an upcom-
ing pandemic relief package as a way
to get the legislation through Con-
gress.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair-
man Lindsey Graham and ranking
member Sen. Dianne Feinstein were
both in favor of adding more Article
III judges at a hearing Tuesday on
such a request from the Judicial Con-
ference, and seemed prepared to take
swift action to address those needs. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, speaks to members of
Graham suggested at the close of the press before the start of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on

the hearing that such legislation could Dec. 10, 2019. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

be included in a forthcoming Phase 4 economic Congress has not passed a comprehensive bill to
relief package. “To me, it seems like we should be create new judgeships in 30 years, instead signing off
able to come up with a compromised version of the on bills to create new or temporary seats when the
recommendations to put in that package because I need became overwhelming. The Eastern District of
think Sen. [Chris] Coons is right, that once we begin California has declared a judicial emergency due to
to reopen the economy, the courts are going to get a lack of judges, and others, such as the District of
overwhelmed with pending cases and there will be New Jersey, have weighed short-term solutions to
more litigation, probably not less,” Graham said. manage overflowing dockets.
“So I just ask my colleagues to think about this While the bipartisan package discussed by Graham
committee putting together a bipartisan package and Feinstein seems unlikely to address the judicia-
that fills some of the needs, not all, and see if we can ry’s full request, senators from both sides of the aisle
convince our respective leaderships to advocate for appeared to favor adding new judgeships. That in-
it on the Phase 4 bill,” Graham added. Feinstein sug- cludes lawmakers from states with heavy caseloads
gested their staffs each outline a proposal and meet or identified for more judgeships, such as Idaho Sen.
in a week, and Graham agreed. Mike Crapo and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.
The rare bipartisan call for action came at a hear- Graham also noted that, during a presidential
ing on a Judicial Conference request for additional election year with no knowledge of which party will
judges. The conference has asked lawmakers to es- get to choose judicial nominees, “maybe this is the
tablish 65 new judgeships across 24 district courts, best time to do it because nobody knows the out-
five new seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the come and we all know we need more judges.”
Ninth Circuit and make permanent eight temporary The need to pass such a package soon became more
judgeships set to lapse at the end of fiscal year 2021. apparent with the questioning of Sen. Chuck Grass-

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