Staff Reports
President Joe Biden is revving up for a potential record-breaking 13th veto, aiming to quash legislation that would gift new federal judgeships to President-elect Donald Trump. Should Biden follow through, it would place him above only one prior president—Bill Clinton—in terms of vetoes issued, making one wonder if he might be channeling his inner veto enthusiast or simply trying to curry favor with the judicial masses.
So far during his administration, Biden has athlete-like agility when it comes to vetoes—notching up 12 approvals to deny bills, a stat that aligns him with fellow Democrats Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who each hit the same number in their presidencies. On the other hand, Trump has so far kept his veto count at a modest 10 during his first term, but the expectation is that he will swiftly outpace Biden on his second trip around the Oval Office merry-go-round. For those keeping score, good ol’ Bill Clinton took the gold with a whopping 37 vetoes, clearly setting the bar high for the current administration.
The White House’s response to the House’s passing of the JUDGES Act, which came in at a 236-173 vote, was anything but festive. Biden’s aides hinted at their skepticism, suggesting that the motivation behind filling federal judicial vacancies has more to do with keeping control rather than the purported needs of judicial economy and efficiency. It seems logic has taken a back seat in favor of political posturing—what a shocker.
Biden poised to veto JUDGES Act to end term with most vetoes since Clinton https://t.co/tIAK2S5Pf7
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 17, 2024
At the heart of the JUDGES Act is the proposal for 66 new federal judicial seats, leaving a tantalizing opportunity for Trump to fill these roles before he even sets foot in the White House again. The bill had the rare distinction of passing the Senate unanimously earlier in August, essentially attempting to keep the balance tilted away from any major partisan shifts in the judiciary by spacing out the appointments over three different administrations. It sounds like a strategic genius move—until it wasn’t.
Democrats claim that the bill’s timing was crucial, as it was passed before the results of the 2024 election were in, a move that was supposed to keep the competition fair and square. The delay in bringing the bill to a House vote by Speaker Mike Johnson was a calculated risk and one that Senate Democrats hoped would not bite them back. Yet now, it appears that their “magic moment,” as they fondly described it, might be fading faster than Biden’s approval ratings at a diner filled with conservative voters. Senator Todd Young from Indiana, one of the Republican proponents, remains optimistic, believing the veto could be reconsidered. Here’s hoping a miracle happens—if miracles include the Common Sense Club making a comeback in Washington.
