Congress
House to vote on a second bill dealing with federal judges
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 as 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.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is in the Capitol meeting with holdout GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiania as he tries to lock down their support for his confirmation as permanent leader of the Justice Department.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) declined to respond directly Wednesday to Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to denounce his former son-in-law Rep. Max Miller over abuse accusations leveled by Moreno’s daughter: “These aren’t accusations in my world,” he said.
“In my world, this is the reality,” Moreno told reporters at the Capitol. “This is not something that is theoretical to me. This is my lived reality of my daughter and my family every single solitary day.”
In an interview with Dasha Burns for Blue Light News’s The Conversation, Johnson declined to take sides in the dispute between Miller (R-Ohio) and Emily Moreno. He called for a House Ethics probe to “play out.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s expected choice for Army chief of staff faces resistance that could imperil his confirmation, according to the chair of the panel that needs to approve it.
Senate Armed Services head Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Wednesday that he was aware of “some opposition within the committee” to acting Army chief of staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve taking the job on a permanent basis.
LaNeve, previously Hegseth’s senior military aide, was confirmed as Army vice chief of staff in January. But he has also served as acting chief of staff since April when Hegseth forced out popular Gen. Randy George, a move that drew widespread criticism from lawmakers in both parties.
Wicker said he was “not able to predict right now” if lawmakers could address concerns about LaNeve. He did not specify whether the concerns were raised by Republicans, but GOP resistance is likely given that nominees could advance through the committee on a party-line vote.
LaNeve has only held the position of four-star general for six months, an anomaly for the the senior most Army officer.
The Wall Street Journal first reported about Republican opposition to LaNeve, citing Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) concerns about his lack of experience at the four-star rank.
Ernst, in an interview, did not dispute that she was the source of the holdup. But she called it a moot point as President Donald Trump has not yet formally nominated LaNeve to the position. And she disputed reports that LaNeve’s lack of experience was the sticking point.
“I don’t think that time and grade has anything to do with leadership ability, so I don’t know how that came about, honestly.” she said. “That’s not what I’ve told anyone.”
If the opposition continues, Trump could decide to leave LeNeve in the acting position indefinitely.
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