I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1856
To authorize additional district judges for the district court for the eastern
district of California.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH5, 2025
Mr. C
OSTA(for himself and Mr. OBERNOLTE) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize additional district judges for the district court
for the eastern district of California.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Additional 4
Seats to Ease Legally Overburdened Adjudicators’ Dock-5
ets Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘CASE LOAD Act of 2025’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
(1) The Federal district court for the eastern 9
district of California is the Federal trial court for 34 10
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counties, including five of the fastest-growing cities 1
in the State of California, serving a population of 2
approximately 8,400,000. 3
(2) The Federal district court for the eastern 4
district of California is one of the largest judicial 5
districts in the country, with approximately 6
8,400,000 residents and over 87,000 square miles of 7
land. Yet, there are only six permanent judgeships, 8
with one upcoming vacancy pending a nomination 9
elevating a sitting district judge. 10
(3) Based on the 2019 U.S. census data, the 11
ratio of authorized district judgeships to population 12
was 1:1,362,552. The central district of California 13
has the next highest ratio in the State, nearly half 14
the size, with 1:694,323. 15
(4) As of June 2022, the total pending cases 16
per judgeship in the Federal district court for the 17
eastern district of California was 1,308, over 2.6 18
times larger than the average for all districts within 19
the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth 20
Circuit. Pending caseloads remain high, and if a new 21
vacancy opens upon the elevation of the district 22
judge, caseloads will once again reach this 23
unsustainable level. 24
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SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGES FOR THE EASTERN 1
DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA. 2
(a) 2027.— 3
(1) A
DDITIONAL JUDGESHIPS .—On or after 4
January 21, 2027, the President shall appoint, by 5
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 2 ad-6
ditional district judges for the eastern district of 7
California. 8
(2) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table con-9
tained in section 133(a) of title 28, United States 10
Code, is amended by striking the items relating to 11
California and inserting the following: 12
‘‘California:
Northern ................................................................. 14
Eastern ................................................................... 8
Central .................................................................... 27
Southern ................................................................. 13’’.
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 13
by paragraph (2) shall take effect on January 20, 14
2027. 15
(b) 2029.— 16
(1) A
DDITIONAL JUDGESHIPS .—On or after 17
January 5, 2029, the President shall appoint, by 18
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 1 ad-19
ditional district judge for the eastern district of Cali-20
fornia. 21
(2) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table con-22
tained in section 133(a) of title 28, United States 23
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Code, is amended by striking the items relating to 1
California and inserting the following: 2
‘‘California:
Northern ................................................................. 14
Eastern ................................................................... 9
Central .................................................................... 27
Southern ................................................................. 13’’.
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 3
by paragraph (2) shall take effect on January 4, 4
2029. 5
(c) 2031.— 6
(1) A
DDITIONAL JUDGESHIPS .—On or after 7
January 21, 2031, the President shall appoint, by 8
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 2 ad-9
ditional district judges for the eastern district of 10
California. 11
(2) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table con-12
tained in section 133(a) of title 28, United States 13
Code, is amended by striking the items relating to 14
California and inserting the following: 15
‘‘California:
Northern ................................................................. 14
Eastern ................................................................... 11
Central .................................................................... 27
Southern ................................................................. 13’’.
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 16
by paragraph (2) shall take effect on January 20, 17
2031. 18
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SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 2
as may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amend-3
ments made by this Act, including such sums as may be 4
necessary to provide appropriate space and facilities for 5
the judicial positions created by this Act or an amendment 6
made by this Act. 7
Æ
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