The US Senate unanimously passed a bill on Thursday that adds 66 judgeships for federal district courts over a decade, starting on January 21, 2025.

The Senate passed the JUDGES Act of 2024 on its findings that “[b]y the end of fiscal year 2022, [US district court filings] had increased by 30 percent since [1990]” and “[a]s of March 31, 2023, there were 686,797 pending cases in the [US district courts], with an average of 491 weighted case filings per judgeship [annually].”

The bill’s sponsor, Indiana Senator Todd Young, said in his press release, “Too many Hoosiers and Americans are being denied access to our justice system due to an overload of cases and a shortage of judges.” Young’s close collaborator, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, also stated, “For decades, Congress has failed to authorize new federal judgeships, creating a massive backlog of case filings for our nation’s federal judges–especially in Delaware, where there are only four active judgeships.”

Both senators expressed that the bill would secure people’s ability to access the courts and reduce the workload of overworked judges. Young noted that the bill also fairly spreads the addition of federal judges so that the judgeships can be filled by multiple presidential administrations.

The bill also requires the Administrative Office of the US Courts to publish free biennial online reports on the Judicial Conference of the US’s recommendations on additional judgeships. The Conference’s membership consists of the US Chief Justice, the chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Chief Judge of the Court of International Trade as well as a district judge from each regional judicial circuit.

The bill awaits its passage in the US House of Representatives to complete the next step required to become law, as Senator Young and Senator Coons urge the House to swiftly pass the bill. The last comprehensive judgeship legislation was the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990, adding 88 judgeships.