DC Federal Officials Must Now Live Where They Work: Residency Loophole Closed for New Judges and U.S. Attorneys

The District of Columbia Federal Judicial Officials Residency Equality Act of 2025 aims to end a long-standing geographic double standard. Currently, many top-tier federal officials working in Washington, D.C.—including circuit and district judges, U.S. attorneys, and U.S. marshals—enjoy special exceptions that allow them to live far outside the district they serve. This bill strikes those exceptions from the law (specifically 28 U.S.C. §§ 44, 134, 545, 561, and 751), requiring these high-ranking public servants to reside within the District of Columbia, just like their counterparts in almost every other federal district in the country.

Ending the Commuter Exception

For decades, D.C. was treated differently than, say, the federal districts in Ohio or California. While a judge in Cincinnati is generally expected to live in their district, a judge in D.C. could technically live much further away. This bill levels the playing field. Under Section 2, circuit and district judges appointed to D.C. courts must now live within the circuit or district at the time of their appointment. The same goes for U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals. The only remaining flexibility is reserved for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, where officials can still live within 20 miles of the district—a nod to the unique geography of the NYC metro area that D.C. will no longer share.

Real-World Stakes for D.C. Residents

Think of this as a "skin in the game" requirement. For a resident in D.C., this means the officials overseeing local federal cases, prosecuting crimes, and managing court administrative tasks will be neighbors, not just commuters. They’ll be subject to the same local infrastructure, cost of living, and community issues as the people appearing in their courtrooms. While this standardizes the rules, it could make recruitment more challenging given D.C.’s high housing costs. A newly appointed U.S. Marshal, for instance, who might have preferred a quieter suburb in a neighboring state for their family, will now be legally required to find a home within the District lines.

A Modernized Rulebook

Beyond the residency requirements, the bill performs some overdue housekeeping. It replaces outdated, gendered language—changing "his" to "his or her" and "he" to "he or she" throughout the judicial code. Importantly, this isn't an overnight eviction notice for current officials. The bill includes a grandfather clause: these new residency rules only apply to individuals appointed after the Act is officially signed into law. This ensures that current judges and attorneys don't have their lives upended, while setting a clear expectation for the next generation of D.C.’s federal legal leadership.