H.R. 1929 — JUDGES Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings regarding district court judgeships, including (1) Congress's authority under Article III of the Constitution to establish such judgeships; (2) no new permanent judgeships created since 2003 and no comprehensive judgeship legislation since 1990; (3) this as the longest such period since district courts were established in 1789; (4) a 30% increase in filings by the end of FY2022 since the last comprehensive legislation; (5) 686,797 pending cases as of March 31, 2023, with an average of 491 weighted case filings per judgeship over 12 months; and (6) the Judicial Conference's 2023 request for 66 new district court judgeships.

This section directs the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint additional district judges for specified U.S. district courts and amends the table in 28 U.S.C. § 133(a) to permanently increase authorized judgeships, effective on the following dates: (1) January 21, 2029 (11 judgeships): 1 each for the central district of California (to 28), eastern district of California (to 7), northern district of California (to 15), district of Delaware (to 5), middle district of Florida (to 16), southern district of Indiana (to 6), northern district of Iowa (to 3), district of New Jersey (to 18), southern district of New York (to 29), eastern district of Texas (to 8), and southern district of Texas (to 20); (2) January 21, 2031 (11 judgeships): 2 for the central district of California (to 30) and 1 each for the district of Arizona (to 13), eastern district of California (to 8), northern district of California (to 16), middle district of Florida (to 17), southern district of Florida (to 18), northern district of Georgia (to 12), district of Idaho (to 3), northern district of Texas (to 13), and southern district of Texas (to 21); (3) January 21, 2033 (11 judgeships): 1 each for the central district of California (to 31), eastern district of California (to 9), northern district of California (to 17), district of Colorado (to 8), district of Delaware (to 6), district of Nebraska (to 4), eastern district of New York (to 16), northern district of Oklahoma (to 4), eastern district of Texas (to 9), southern district of Texas (to 22), and western district of Texas (to 14); and (4) January 21, 2035: 1 each for the district of Arizona, central district of California, eastern district of California, and northern district of California.

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit reports to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Specifically, not later than two years after enactment, the Comptroller General must submit and publicly release a report (1) evaluating the accuracy and objectivity of case-related workload measures used by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) for district courts and courts of appeals, the impact of judges' non-case-related activities on caseloads, and the effectiveness and efficiency of AOUSC policies regarding senior judges; and (2) providing related recommendations. Separately, the Comptroller General must submit a report assessing federal agencies' needs for detention space, their efforts to acquire it, and related challenges.

This section requires the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in consultation with the Judicial Conference of the United States, to make publicly available on its website, free of charge, the biennial report entitled “Article III Judgeship Recommendations of the Judicial Conference of the United States.” The report must include summaries and all related appendices on (1) the process used by the Judicial Conference to develop recommendations, (2) caseload and methodology changes, (3) judgeship surveys with recommendations, and (4) specific information for each court recommended for additional judgeships; the section also requires submission of the report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.