Republican leaders are aiming to bring legislation adding more federal judges to a House vote during the week of April 7, according to two people who were granted anonymity to discuss internal plans.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) confirmed in a brief interview that his team had spoken with Republican leadership about plans to call a vote on the JUDGES Act, which he introduced this Congress. A similar bill passed both chambers last session, but former President Joe Biden vetoed the measure after Donald Trump won the election in November.
Issa’s bill, which passed out of committee earlier this month, would add dozens of new seats on federal district courts before the end of 2035 over a staggered timeline. Congress has not added new district court judges in more than two decades.
The push to add more lower-court judges comes as Trump and his allies lash out at a string of unfavorable rulings from district judges who have sought to block some of his second-term initiatives.
House Republicans don’t have the votes to impeach those judges — as Trump, GOP megadonor Elon Musk and other hard-liners have suggested — so Speaker Mike Johnson has been looking for alternatives. Those include hearings and putting some judiciary-related bills on the House floor in coming weeks, including another Issa bill meant to rein in nationwide injunctions.
Johnson told Judiciary Committee Republicans in a closed-door meeting Tuesday that he was coordinating his strategy with the White House and focused his remarks on how House Republicans can work with panel members to hold “activist” judges accountable, according to three Republicans granted anonymity to describe the private meeting.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) also said he had spoken with House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) as part of an effort to understand how Republicans could use the fiscal 2026 government funding process to achieve their goals with the courts.
