The latest Republican proposal to remove three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as unlikely as it seems to happen at this point isn’t unprecedented. But this time it brings with it an ideological battle about the political makeup of the nation’s second highest court.
U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) pitched the Court Efficiency Act on Wednesday, after years of Republican argument that the D.C. Circuit has more judges than it needs. Grassley made a similar move during the George W. Bush administration, playing a role in removing one judge from the prominent Washington appeals court.