# JUDGES Act **Status: stub — expand.** Legislation to create the first significant tranche of new federal district judgeships in decades. The number of authorized judgeships is set by ordinary statute — **28 U.S.C. § 133** for district seats, **28 U.S.C. § 44** for circuit seats — so adding judges requires an act of Congress, and the [[Judicial Conference of the United States]] has recommended additions for years on caseload grounds. **The 2024 bill** passed the Senate by unanimous consent in August 2024, when the presidential election outcome was unknown, and then passed the House 236–173 in December 2024, after it was known. It was **vetoed** that month, the veto message resting on the reversal of the bill's bipartisan posture once the beneficiary became identifiable. **The 2025 successor**, H.R. 1702, would create 65 permanent and one temporary district judgeship phased in through 2035. It was ordered reported by the House Judiciary Committee 16–11 on **March 5, 2025**, and as of September 2026 that remains its last recorded action — no floor vote in either chamber. The authorized totals published in the courts' own 2025 reporting (179 circuit, 677 district) are identical to the pre-2025 figures, which independently confirms that nothing has been enacted. The structural consequence, mapped in [[How a Nominee Becomes a Federal Judge]]: statutory judgeship creation is the only door to a judicial vacancy that Congress controls outright, and it has been shut since 2024. With no new seats and no appellate vacancies, the appointment power is rationed by [[Senior Status]] decisions belonging to sitting judges. ## See also - [[How a Nominee Becomes a Federal Judge]] · [[Judicial Conference of the United States]] - [[Senior Status]] · [[United States District Courts]] · [[Federal Judiciary Tree]]