Top Biden allies ‘disappointed’ by president’s veto of bill to increase number of US judges

A top ally of President Biden is “disappointed” after he vetoed a bill that would have increased the number of federal judges currently serving.

Late. Chris Coons, D-Del., who served as campaign chairman for both of Biden’s recent presidential campaigns, emphasized that he and fellow Republican Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., kept bipartisanship top of mind when crafting the bill.

“I am disappointed in this outcome, for my own state and for the federal judges across the country who are struggling under the burden of ever-higher caseloads. I have worked on this bill for years, and thanks to a tireless bipartisan effort with Sen. Young, it made it to the president’s desk It’s very unfortunate that it won’t become law, Coons said in a statement Tuesday.

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Late. Chris Coons said he was disappointed after President Biden backed off his veto threat. (Fox News Digital)

He then blamed House Republicans for the bill’s ultimate failure, though to vote on it after the 2024 election.

“Senator Young and I took pains to make this a nonpartisan process that structured the Judiciary Act so that Congress could pass the bill before any of us—Republican or Democrat—knew who would occupy the White House House in 2025 and therefore nominate the new federal judges,” Coons said.

“The Senate did its part by passing the bill unanimously in August; however, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives waited for election results before moving the bill forward. As a result, the White House is now vetoing this bill.”

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House Representative Mike Johnson accused Biden of politicizing the process. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Republicans, in turn, have accused Biden of making threats to veto the bill — which he issued two days before the House voted on it — to avoid giving President-elect Trump new roles to fill.

“This important legislation won broad, bipartisan support when it unanimously passed the Senate in August because it directly addresses the urgent need to reduce the backlog of cases in our federal courts and strengthen the efficiency of our justice system,” said Mike Johnson, R-La . , pointed out in a statement after the bill was passed earlier this month.

“At the time, Democrats supported the bill — they thought Kamala Harris would win the presidency. Now, however, the Biden-Harris administration has chosen to issue a veto threat, and Democrats have lashed out at this bill, which stands in the way of progress, simply because of party politics.”

The Senate passed the bill weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris took over for Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The bill would have added 66 federal district judge roles and spread their creation over more than 10 years to prevent a boon for new appointments for any administration.

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At the time of Senate passage, Democratic morale was high after Biden avoided the 2024 race and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.

It passed the Senate by unanimous consent, meaning no Republicans objected to the legislation’s progress.