The Courts and Congress – Annual Report 2025

Request for Additional Article III Judges

In 2025, the Judicial Conference of the United States asked Congress to address the critical need for new Article III judgeships throughout the federal courts. At its biannual meeting in March, the Conference recommended the creation of two permanent judgeships in the courts of appeals and 69 permanent judgeships in the district courts.  

In developing judgeship recommendations, the Judicial Conference and its Committee on Judicial Resources used a formal survey process to study and evaluate Article III judgeship needs. Before a judgeship recommendation was transmitted to Congress, it underwent several levels of careful consideration and review within the Judiciary. These surveys are conducted every two years, and the resulting recommendations are based on established criteria, including current workload factors and empirical standards. 

In recommending the new judgeships, the Judiciary noted that the number of cases filed had grown significantly since enactment of the last comprehensive judgeship legislation in 1990. At the end of fiscal year 2025, district court filings had increased 37 percent. 

Eleven district courts were identified as priorities for expedited action because of their high sustained workloads. The districts and the number of recommended additional judgeships for each are as follows: Arizona, three; Central California, 12; Eastern California, five; Colorado, two; Delaware, two; Middle Florida, seven; Northern Georgia, four; Southern Indiana, one; New Jersey, four; Eastern Texas, two; and Western Texas, six. 

Significant legislative action on district court judgeships took place in 2024 and early 2025. 

At the end of 2024, President Biden signed into law the Federal Judiciary Stabilization Act converting 10 existing temporary judgeships to permanent status. The judgeships were located in federal court districts for Northern Alabama, Arizona, Central California, Southern Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Eastern Missouri, New Mexico, Western North Carolina, and Eastern Texas. The conversions were taken into account in the Judicial Conference’s judgeship recommendations of 2025. 

Another piece of legislation that would have gone a long way toward resolving the Judiciary’s chronic judge shortages passed Congress in 2024 but was vetoed by President Biden. Called the JUDGES Act — Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved — the bill created 66 new district judgeships over 10 years. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent on August 1, 2024, and the House passed an identical version on December 12 on a vote of 236–173. Ultimately, President Biden vetoed it on December 23.  

In February 2025, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet held a hearing on the need for additional judgeships. Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, testified on behalf of the Judicial Conference. Judge Tymkovich had previously served as chair of the Conference’s Committee on Judicial Resources, which is responsible for evaluating judgeship needs. 

Following the hearing, the JUDGES Act was reintroduced in the House. The new version was substantially similar to the version approved by Congress the previous year, creating 66 district court judgeships in six batches over 10 years and several administrations. 

Judicial Improvements Bill

In September, the Judiciary sent Congress a draft bill to address multiple administrative, personnel, and organizational issues aimed at increasing efficiencies in federal court operations and case management. 

Called the Judicial Improvements and Technical Corrections Act of 2025, the proposal was transmitted to Congress by Judge Robert J. Conrad, the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, in his capacity as Secretary of the Judicial Conference of the United States. 

The draft bill includes provisions to increase electronic bankruptcy noticing, eliminate unnecessary bail reports, and allow magistrate judges to handle more misdemeanor matters. It also includes a provision to refine diversity jurisdiction in civil cases to ensure that matters that might have both state and federal jurisdiction are assigned to the correct court. Diversity jurisdiction is a form of subject-matter jurisdiction, contemplated by the Constitution and authorized by statute, that allows federal courts to hear cases between citizens of different states when a plaintiff’s claimed damages exceed a threshold of $75,000.  

Key House and Senate Judiciary Committee staff were provided background information and briefings on the proposed legislation. 

Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2025

On August 1, 2025, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill addressing several issues in the bankruptcy court system. 

The Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2025 (BAIA) would extend the lapse dates of 26 temporary bankruptcy judgeships, increase by $60 the compensation per case payable to Chapter 7 trustees, and increase the amount of certain Chapter 11 quarterly fees payable to the U.S. Trustee System Fund. 

Nearly identical versions of the legislation were introduced in the Senate and in the House. 

The House did not pass its version in 2025, although on July 15, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing that, in part, considered the need for the BAIA along with other legislative reforms affecting the bankruptcy system.