President Joe Biden has vetoed a once-bipartisan effort to add 66 new federal district judgeships. Biden said Monday that “hurried action” by the House left key questions unanswered about the lifetime positions.

President Joe Biden has vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have added dozens of new federal judge positions in the coming years. The president had threatened to veto the bill because he didn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities,

Biden drew sharp criticism from lawmakers and organizations representing lawyers and judges for vetoing the JUDGES Act.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday vetoed legislation to add 66 new judges to understaffed federal courts nationally, a once widely bipartisan measure that would have been the first major expansion of the federal judiciary since 1990.

Federal judiciary leaders have sharply criticized President Joe Biden’s veto of the JUDGES Act, a bipartisan bill that sought to add 66 new federal judgeships to address mounting caseloads in courts across the United States.

If Biden had signed the Judges Act, President-elect Trump would have been able to fill 22 of the new positions.