Mitch McConnell Urges Courts To Ignore New Rules Meant To Prevent 'Judge-Shopping'

Senate Republicans attacked new rules released by a federal judicial rule-making body on Wednesday preventing the practice of “judge-shopping,” which conservatives have used to ensure they get a favorable hearing when trying to strike down Biden administration policies.

The new rules issued by the Judicial Conference of the United States ― a 26-member body that oversees the federal judiciary ― say that if a case seeks a national injunction to reverse or block a federal government policy, it must be randomly assigned to a judge within the district court in which the case was filed.

The conference is led by Chief Justice John Roberts, and consists of the chief judges of each circuit court of appeals as well as representatives from the district courts.

“This was an unforced error by the Judicial Conference. I hope they will reconsider,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a Senate floor speech on Thursday. “And I hope district courts throughout the country will instead weigh what is best for their jurisdictions, not half-baked ‘guidance’ that just does Washington Democrats’ bidding.”

The new rules put forward by the conference followed years of controversy over the practice of judge-shopping exploited by conservatives. Conservative activist groups and GOP attorneys general have increasingly directed their lawsuits against Biden administration policies to single-judge geographical divisions in Texas where they know they will get a sympathetic hearing.

In particular, conservatives have repeatedly filed suit on issues of national importance in the Amarillo, Texas, federal courthouse in the Northern Texas federal district. That’s because the Amarillo courthouse has only one judge: the conservative activist