HR 3426: Courthouse Affordability and Space Efficiency Act of 2025

HR 3426 in plain English: This bill gives the General Services Administration (GSA) legal authority to require judges to share courtrooms and sets limits on building new federal courthouses. It establishes specific ratios for how many courtrooms different categories of judges must share, and requires that existing courthouse space be fully used before new capacity can be added.

Stated purpose

The bill aims to reduce the cost of federal courthouses by requiring judges to share courtrooms and by limiting when the government can build new courthouse space.

Key points

• Requires magistrate, bankruptcy, and senior district judges to share courtrooms under set ratios
• In courthouses with 10+ active district judges, provides 2 courtrooms per 3 active district judges, with a minimum of 9 courtrooms
• Bans construction of new courthouses that do not meet the courtroom-sharing requirements
• Requires existing courthouse space to be fully used or vacated before new capacity is added
• GSA must update the U.S. Courts Design Guide within 180 days of enactment

Arguments supporters make

• Requiring judges to share courtrooms rather than giving each one a dedicated space is a commonsense way to save taxpayer money on expensive federal building construction.
• Many courtrooms sit empty much of the time, so sharing policies make better use of space the government already pays for.
• Codifying an existing GSA policy into law gives it firmer, more consistent footing so savings are not lost if administrative priorities change.

Arguments opponents make

• Forcing judges to share courtrooms could create scheduling conflicts that slow down case processing and delay justice for people waiting for their day in court.
• One-size-fits-all ratios set by Congress may not fit the real workload demands of every courthouse, potentially creating bottlenecks in busy districts.
• Restricting new courthouse construction could leave the federal judiciary without enough space to handle growing caseloads, trading short-term savings for long-term capacity problems.

Tradeoffs

The bill trades potential savings on construction and space costs against the risk of reduced flexibility and capacity for federal courts; the benefit of lower government spending must be weighed against the possibility of slower court proceedings if shared courtrooms create scheduling or workload conflicts.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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