This bill amends federal law to require U.S. territory judges to be residents of the territory at the time of their appointment and removes provisions regarding temporary judgeships.
Derek Schmidt
Representative
KS-2
The Restoring Executive Branch Authorities to Oversee Offices of the United States Attorneys Act of 2026 updates federal judicial appointment requirements for U.S. territories. Specifically, the bill mandates that territorial judges must be residents of the territory at the time of their appointment and removes existing provisions regarding temporary judgeships.
New Judicial Residency Rule: Federal Judges in U.S. Territories Must Now Be Local Residents
The Restoring Executive Branch Authorities to Oversee Offices of the United States Attorneys Act of 2026 makes a specific but significant change to how the legal system operates in places like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Under this bill, any individual appointed as a judge for a U.S. territory must actually live in that territory at the time they are appointed. Additionally, the legislation wipes out a specific provision in the federal code, 28 U.S.C. 546(d), which previously allowed for the appointment of temporary judges in certain circumstances. This effectively narrows the pool of who can sit on the bench and streamlines the appointment process by removing that temporary workaround.
Keeping it Local
By amending 28 U.S.C. 546(c)(2), the bill ensures that those making high-level legal decisions in a territory are already part of that community. For a small business owner in Guam or a worker in the Virgin Islands, this means the person presiding over federal cases won't be someone who just flew in from the mainland for the job. It’s a move toward 'localism' in the federal judiciary, requiring that a candidate has skin in the game and a literal physical presence in the jurisdiction before they take the oath of office. This eliminates the possibility of appointing an 'outsider' who might lack familiarity with the unique local culture or specific regional legal nuances.
Closing the Temporary Loophole
The removal of subsection (d) is a technical cleanup with real-world consequences for how vacancies are filled. Previously, this section provided a mechanism for temporary judgeships to keep the wheels of justice turning if a permanent seat was empty for too long. By striking this provision, the bill signals a shift toward a more rigid, permanent appointment structure. For anyone involved in a long-running legal dispute in a territory, this could mean more stability in who hears their case, but it also places a higher premium on the government’s ability to find and vet qualified local candidates quickly to avoid backlogs.