[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 150 (Monday, September 15, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H4278-H4279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COURTHOUSE AFFORDABILITY AND SPACE EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2025
Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3426) to amend title 40, United States Code, to limit the
construction of new courthouses under certain circumstances, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3426
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Courthouse Affordability and
Space Efficiency Act of 2025'' or the ``CASE Act''.
SEC. 2. REDUCING COSTS RELATED TO COURTHOUSES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 33 of title 40, United States
Code, as amended by this act, is further amended by adding at
the end the following:
``Sec. 3320. Reducing costs related to courthouses
``(a) Limitation on New Courthouses.--The Administrator of
General Services may not commence construction of any new
courthouse if--
``(1) construction has not begun on or before the date of
enactment of this section; or
``(2) the design and construction of the new courthouse
fails to comply, at a minimum, with the courtroom sharing
requirements described in subsection (b).
``(b) Courtroom Sharing Requirements Defined.--The term
`courtroom sharing requirements' means--
``(1) in courthouses with 10 or more active district
judges, 2 courtrooms per 3 active district judges, except
such courthouses may contain not less than 9 courtrooms for
active district judges;
``(2) in courthouses with 3 or more bankruptcy judges--
``(A) 1 courtroom per 2 bankruptcy judges;
``(B) 1 courtroom for emergency matters; and
``(C) if there is an odd number of bankruptcy judges, the
number of courtrooms required pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be rounded down;
``(3) in courthouses with 3 or more senior district judges,
1 courtroom per 2 senior district judges; and
``(4) in courthouses with 3 or more magistrate judges--
``(A) 1 courtroom per 2 magistrate judges;
``(B) 1 criminal duty courtroom; and
``(C) if there is an odd number of magistrate judges, the
number of courtrooms required pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be rounded down.
``(c) United States Courts Design Guide.--Not later than
180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the
Design Guide for courthouses shall be updated to incorporate
courtroom sharing requirements to the maximum extent
practicable.
``(d) Utilization.--If a new courthouse will add capacity
in the inventory of the General Services Administration,
existing space in the same courthouse complex must be fully
utilized or relinquished from the inventory of the General
Services Administration.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 33 of
title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``3320. Reducing costs related to courthouses.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Taylor) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Figures) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
General Leave
Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 3426, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3426, the CASE Act, limits the size of courthouses,
by directing the General Services Administration, or GSA, to only build
new courthouses that accommodate courtroom sharing.
Specifically, the CASE Act codifies the judiciary's current courtroom
sharing policies for magistrate, senior, and bankruptcy judges.
For large courthouses, the legislation also directs there can only be
two courtrooms for every three district court judges.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on a bipartisan
basis, has conducted oversight of the Federal courthouse construction
program across multiple administrations.
Historically, courthouses have been significantly overbuilt, costing
the American taxpayers billions of dollars to build, operate, and
maintain. In 2010, the GAO, Government Accountability Office, found
that courthouses built from 2000 to 2010 were overbuilt by 3.56 million
square feet, costing an additional $800 million in addition to $51
million annually to operate and maintain.
Despite oversight, and even at one point a moratorium on authorizing
new courthouses, the courts issued an updated courthouse design guide
in 2021 that did just the opposite of consolidating the judiciary's
space.
A GAO review of the updated design guide revealed the changes in the
design guide actually increase space in courthouses by 6 percent and
will cost the taxpayer 12 percent more. The Government Accountability
Office found one of the key driving forces in the overbuilding of
courthouses to be the overprojection of future judges.
Proposals for new courthouses are driven not by building condition,
security, or even the need for more space for current judges, but by
the court's projection of future judges. The court's own methodology
for prioritizing the need for a new courthouse, for example,
[[Page H4279]]
relegated security concerns to just 10 percent of a weighted formula,
but in contrast courtrooms and chambers account for 50 percent.
In reality, the courts' projections have been shown to be wrong. As a
result, the taxpayer pays for space that sits vacant.
The CASE Act directs GSA, which builds and owns Federal courthouses,
to only design and build courthouses that strictly comply with
courtroom sharing requirements.
The committee has reported out similar language in the past and a
hearing before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management earlier this year on courthouses
reinforced the need for this legislation.
H.R. 3426, as amended, also incorporates reasonable revisions
recommended by the courts.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Shreve) for his
leadership on this legislation and the gentlewoman from D.C. (Ms.
Norton) for working on this bipartisan bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3426, the Courthouse Affordability and
Space Efficiency Act of 2025, or CASE Act.
I thank my colleague from, I almost want to say Louisiana because of
his familial ties to the naming of Shreveport, but my across-the-hall
neighbor in the Cannon Building, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr.
Shreve), I thank him for his leadership and support on this issue.
This bill develops space-sharing guidelines to prevent overbuilding
of new Federal courthouses. As a former Department of Justice staffer
and a former Federal law clerk myself, I have had the privilege to see
many beautiful courthouses and courtrooms across this country, and so I
have seen how empty and underutilized many of those spaces are.
By implementing these standards into the design guide for Federal
courthouses, the GSA will be able to reduce construction costs and
ensure that existing spaces in courthouse complexes are being fully
utilized.
Over the last 45 years, the GAO has compiled a large body of work on
Federal courthouse construction, much of it at the request of the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
GAO has found that the judiciary has requested and received
courthouses that are larger than the size authorized by Congress, more
expensive to build, and more expensive to operate than Congress was
aware of.
The judiciary has tried, however, to meet the concerns of Congress
over the last several years. Recently, the judicial conference revised
its courtroom allocation planning assumptions. New courtroom
construction projects are to be designed to facilitate courtroom
sharing for senior district judges, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy
judges.
{time} 1540
There is still some cause for concern. This legislation, by
establishing sharing guidelines for active district court judges, will
certainly help.
I support this legislation because this is about making the American
taxpayer dollar go further and making more sensible investments. I urge
my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Shreve).
Mr. SHREVE. Mr. Speaker, it sounds like my case in salesmanship is
going to be modest with the support that this act enjoys from
colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
I am someone who has built a business from the ground up, including
several million square feet of space. It is a reality that to construct
space is one thing; the carry cost of maintaining it is quite another.
There is general recognition increasingly within this Congress that
we have more space than our Federal Government needs. That is certainly
the case at the courthouse level in our Federal courthouses and the
supporting office space.
My legislation, the CASE Act, directs the GSA to construct the
courthouse space that is necessary and no more. I worked with the U.S.
courts on this bill. The resulting legislation is straightforward. It
is clearly bipartisan, and it is commonsensical.
The CASE Act codifies the court's sharing policies for our
magistrates, seniors, and bankruptcy judges. For the larger
courthouses, it limits the number of courtrooms to two for every three
judges.
The bill codifies this administration's approach to rightsizing our
Federal Government. That is something that we share in common, both
sides of the aisle, toward being good stewards of our taxpayer dollars.
The GSA, as was noted, is still forced to build to standards that
account for potential judges, despite Congress not having authorized
any additional judgeships over the past 30 years. This act is a move
toward making taxpayer dollars go further.
I thank my colleague, Ms. Norton, for joining me on this legislation
and for her good work on this issue. I urge passage.
Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3426, the CASE Act, and I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 3426 as amended, will rightsize Federal
courthouses, reducing unneeded space and potentially saving the
taxpayer billions of dollars.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed reforms to
begin the process of rightsizing the Federal Government's real estate
portfolio last Congress. This legislation continues that work of
ensuring a more efficient use of taxpayer resources.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 3426, as amended, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Taylor) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 3426, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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