
US judge urges Congress to revive effort to expand judiciary
Feb 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal judiciary on Tuesday renewed its push for Congress to add new judges to understaffed courts nationwide, as a federal appeals court judge urged lawmakers to put aside politics to address the "urgent" need for more judgeships.
U.S. Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich during a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee lamented how Democratic former President Joe Biden in his final weeks in office vetoed a once-bipartisan bill that would have added 66 new judges in 13 states over a decade.
Biden did so after the Republican-led House failed to take up the JUDGES Act until after Donald Trump had emerged as the victor in the Nov. 5 presidential election, putting him in the position to appoint the first 25 judges.
"I recognize that the long delay in addressing the country's judicial needs stems in part from the difficulty in resolving ever-evolving political dynamics and partisan concerns," said Tymkovich, a member of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who was designated to testify, opens new tab on the judiciary's behalf.
But he stressed that the judiciary continues to suffer from a "severe shortfall" in judges as he urged Congress to try once again to pass legislation that could "correct severe stresses on the dockets of many courts throughout the country."
Tymkovich, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, said the shortage was causing significant case backlogs, particularly in civil litigation. Over the last two decades, the number of civil cases pending for more than three years has risen 346%, Tymkovich said.
"Substantial delays erode public confidence in the judicial process and the timely administration of justice," he said.
U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee's panel on courts, promised to introduce a bill identical to the legislation Biden vetoed, which a spokesperson for Issa said would happen this week.
"It has been decades since we made a major addition to the court, and the case loads have grown," he said.
Issa called the JUDGES Act "carefully crafted" legislation that would address that issue. The bill had passed the U.S. Senate unanimously before last November's presidential election, and even post-election it garnered 29 Democratic votes in the House.
U.S. Representative Hank Johnson, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said he too looked forward to "one day right-sizing our judiciary, which has been neglected for so long by the legislative branch."
But he said he could not support legislation in the House that would allow Trump to further cement his influence on the judiciary.
Such a bill would also need to pass the U.S. Senate. While Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in that chamber, they would need to secure the support of some Democrats to secure 60 votes and shut off a filibuster.
Trump made 234 judicial appointments during his first term in office, including three members of the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, and is expected even without the JUDGES Act to appoint over 100 more in his second term.
"This hearing is another step in a decades-long scheme to capture our referees of justice, to make certain our third branch is so deeply loyal to one man that our system of justice cannot possibly work without him," Johnson said.
Read more:
Biden delivers on threat to veto bill to expand US judiciary
US House passes bill to expand judiciary despite Biden veto threat
Bill to add 66 US judges would cost $349 mln over a decade, CBO says
US Senate approves bill to create 66 new federal judgeships
US Senate panel advances bipartisan bill to create new judgeships
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I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward… — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 9, 2025 The demonstrations continued on Monday but were far less raucous, with thousands of people peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds more protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention centre where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city. The protests in Los Angeles, a city of four million people, have largely been centred in several blocks of downtown and a few other spots. At daybreak on Tuesday, guard troops were stationed outside the detention centre, but there was no sign of US marines. Obscene slogans were directed at Mr Trump and federal law enforcement remained scrawled across several buildings. At the Walt Disney Concert Hall, workers were busy washing away graffiti on Tuesday morning. 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South Wales Argus
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US marines deployed to LA have not yet responded to immigration protests
The 700 marines and another 2,000 US National Guard troops were sent to LA on Monday, escalating a military presence that local officials and governor Gavin Newsom do not want and that the police chief says makes it harder to handle the protests safely. Marine Corps Gen Eric Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill that the battalion has not yet been sent to any protests. The marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority and are there to protect government property and personnel, he said. Mr Trump doubled the number of Guard troops being deployed soon after the first wave of 2,000 began arriving on Sunday following days of protests driven by anger over the President's enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families. The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. 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an hour ago
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US marines deployed to LA have not yet responded to immigration protests
Marine Corps Gen Eric Smith told a budget hearing on Capitol Hill that the battalion has not yet been sent to any protests. The marines were trained for crowd control but have no arrest authority and are there to protect government property and personnel, he said. Mr Trump doubled the number of Guard troops being deployed soon after the first wave of 2,000 began arriving on Sunday following days of protests driven by anger over the President's enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families. The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. 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This is a hallmark of authoritarianism… — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 9, 2025 Texas governor Greg Abbott posted on social media that more than a dozen protesters were arrested. The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs 134 million dollars (£98.8 million). That figure emerged just after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth engaged in a into a testy back-and-forth about the costs during a congressional hearing. Mr Hegseth said the department has a budget increase and the money to cover the costs, and he defended Mr Trump's decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Democratic members of California's congressional delegation on Tuesday accused the President of creating a 'manufactured crisis' with his orders to send in troops. Mr Trump came under sustained criticism (AP) Nancy Pelosi contrasted Trump's actions with his handling of the January 6 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol when law enforcement officers were beaten. 'We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,' Ms Pelosi said. California's attorney general Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, telling reporters that Mr Trump had 'trampled' the state's sovereignty. He sought a court order declaring Mr Trump's use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment. The President said the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not deployed the Guard. US officials said the marines were needed to protect federal buildings and personnel, including immigration agents. A convoy of buses with blacked-out windows and escorted by sheriff's vehicles arrived overnight at a Navy facility just south of LA. 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