President Joe Biden is preparing to veto a bill that authorizes 63 new permanent district judgeships over the next 10 years, 22 of which President-elect Donald Trump can fill during his next term, reports the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who spearheaded the legislation, told Politico that Biden's objection to the bill was its timing.
"If we could change the date by four years, I know — he told me — if we could change the date, he'd sign it tomorrow," Coons said of his conversation with the president.
Biden pledged to veto it in part because "the House refused to take it up until after the election."
"The bill would create new judgeships in states where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies," the White House said in its statement of administration policy. "Those efforts to hold open vacancies suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now."
It's an abrupt reversal for legislation that the Senate passed unanimously in August. But the GOP-led House waited until after the election to act on the measure, which spreads out the establishment of the new district judgeships over about a decade to give three presidential administrations the chance to appoint the new judges.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said the bill was negotiated with the understanding that three unknown, future presidents would have the chance to expand and shape the judiciary. No party would be knowingly given an advantage. He said he begged GOP leadership to take up the measure before the presidential election. But they did not do so.
"It was a fair fight, and they wanted no part of it," Nadler said.
Nadler said that the bill would give Trump 25 judicial nominations on top of the 100-plus spots that are expected to open up over the next four years.
"Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to expand the power of the presidency and giving him 25 new judges to appoint gives him one more tool at his disposal to do that," Nadler said.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.