The partisanship surrounding the federal judiciary briefly melted away last Congress when Democrats and Republicans supported a bill to increase the number of judgeships. This year, the polarization is back.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced legislation Tuesday that would add nine permanent seats to the circuit courts and 38 to the district courts. It would also add some temporary judgeships on both levels, make five temporary judgeships permanent, and extend a temporary judgeship in the Northern District of Ohio.
