In September, the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act, which is now pending in the Senate. The legislation for the most part is uncontroversial. It contains several improvements to the process in the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans to pursue claims for disability compensation, including making sure that online disability benefits questionnaires are up to date and that veterans receive proper notice and the opportunity to reschedule disability exams.
But buried in the legislation is a provision that would increase the number of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. It appears near the end of the bill and occupies so few words that it is easy to overlook. In fact, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs produced a backgrounder on the legislation that does not even mention the increase in judgeships, suggesting that that particular proposal is not a high priority for its supporters.
But the provision should be removed from the Senate version of the bill before it moves forward. It would add two judges to the Veterans Claims court, an Article I tribunal that currently has nine judges, two of whom occupy temporarily authorized judgeships. If this becomes law, the total number of judges will increase to eleven. That would give President Biden two more judges to appoint, which, given the administration’s far-left track record on judicial nominees, can be expected to result in a more liberal court. Not to mention the creation of a new stepping stone to Article III circuit courts.
Why do this when the court’s workload has in recent years remained relatively constant? There is no demonstrated need for new judges, and even if there were, why should the two temporary judges remain temporary? If any change makes sense, it would be to make the temporary positions permanent. Then additional judgeships could be added on a temporary basis later if subsequent developments call for it. But it would be an unforced error for Republicans to reward with additional judges an administration that has used nominations to pay back the left-wing dark-money groups that spent over a billion dollars to help elect President Biden and Senate Democrats.