Sponsors
The bill trades greater nationwide consistency, transparency, and reduced duplicative litigation by centralizing review in the D.C. Circuit for concentrated judicial power, reduced local forum access, higher thresholds to invalidate statutes, and potential delays or politicization of major federal matters.
State and local governments (and taxpayers) will see more consistent, nationwide appellate rulings because many appeals and injunctions challenging federal laws or agency actions are routed to the D.C. Circuit, reducing circuit splits and legal uncertainty.
High-profile federal cases may receive broader geographic representation and reduced single-circuit bias through multi-circuit panels made up of randomly selected judges.
Taxpayers and state governments retain enacted statutes more reliably because a 70% judicial supermajority would be required to invalidate an Act of Congress, making statutory overturns less frequent.
Most appeals and injunctions being routed to the D.C. Circuit concentrates judicial power in a single court, increasing its influence over national policy and risking regional imbalance in legal interpretation.
Requiring a 70% supermajority to declare a statute unconstitutional makes it harder for courts to check potentially unlawful or rights-infringing laws, weakening judicial protection of individual rights.
Plaintiffs (including state and local governments) may lose access to local federal courts for injunctive relief against federal actions and be forced to litigate in the D.C. Circuit, reducing forum choice and local control.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Centralizes many federal appeals in the D.C. Circuit, creates a 13-judge multi-circuit panel to review federal questions (70% needed to strike laws), and mandates transfer of certain injunction cases to the D.C. Circuit.
Introduced June 25, 2025 by Sean Casten · Last progress June 25, 2025
Creates a new national routing and review system for many federal appeals by sending specified appeals and injunction-related cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and by creating a standing 13-judge multi-circuit panel to hear cases about federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and constitutional questions. The multi-circuit panel is composed of one randomly selected active judge from each regional circuit plus one chief judge, sits for one-year terms beginning in October, and requires at least 70% of the panel to vote to invalidate an Act of Congress. The bill also requires transfer of suits seeking injunctions that would block federal statutes, regulations, or orders against nonparties to the D.C. Circuit when timely moved, and requires courts to publish written explanations when they reverse decisions of the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, or the multi-circuit panels. Most changes to appellate routing and the multi-circuit panel take effect in October of the calendar year after enactment; the transfer rule for injunctions and some technical amendments take effect on enactment. The measure reorganizes appellate jurisdiction and imposes new procedural rules intended to centralize and standardize review of federal questions and injunctions nationwide.