Courthouse Affordability and Space Efficiency Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Courthouse Affordability and Space Efficiency Act adds a title 40 rule for new Federal courthouses. The General Services Administration may not start construction of a new courthouse after enactment unless the design and construction comply, at a minimum, with courtroom-sharing requirements. Those ratios allow two courtrooms for every three active district judges, with at least nine courtrooms in courthouses that have ten or more active district judges; one courtroom for every two bankruptcy judges when a courthouse has three or more bankruptcy judges; one courtroom for every two senior district judges when a courthouse has three or more senior district judges; and one courtroom for every two magistrate judges when a courthouse has three or more magistrate judges. The courthouse Design Guide must be updated within 180 days, and if a new courthouse adds GSA inventory capacity, existing space in the same courthouse complex must be fully used or removed from GSA inventory.
Who Benefits and How
Federal taxpayers benefit because GSA courthouse projects must use courtroom-sharing ratios and existing courthouse space before adding new space. General Services Administration portfolio managers benefit from a statutory rule they can use to control courthouse scope, inventory, and construction costs. Federal court administrators benefit from clearer planning ratios for active district judges, bankruptcy judges, senior district judges, and magistrate judges. Congressional oversight committees benefit from a concrete benchmark for reviewing courthouse proposals.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The General Services Administration must apply the ratios before starting covered courthouse construction, update the courthouse Design Guide, and decide whether existing courthouse-complex space is fully used or should be relinquished. Active district judges, bankruptcy judges, senior district judges, and magistrate judges may lose dedicated courtroom capacity because new projects must use sharing ratios. Courthouse architecture firms and courthouse construction contractors may face reduced project size or fewer revenue opportunities if GSA scales back new courthouse capacity. Local court stakeholders must adapt to shared courtroom planning instead of assuming one courtroom per judge.
Key Provisions
- Requires new courthouse construction to meet courtroom-sharing requirements before GSA may commence construction.
- Limits active district judge courtroom counts to two courtrooms per three active district judges, with a nine-courtroom floor for larger courthouses.
- Limits bankruptcy, senior district, and magistrate judge courtroom counts to one courtroom per two judges when each group has at least three judges.
- Directs the courthouse Design Guide to be updated within 180 days after enactment.
- Requires existing courthouse-complex space to be fully used or relinquished from GSA inventory when a new courthouse adds capacity.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Restricts new Federal courthouse construction unless the General Services Administration uses courtroom-sharing ratios for district, bankruptcy, senior, and magistrate judges, updates the courthouse Design Guide within 180 days, and fully uses or relinquishes existing GSA courthouse space when new capacity is added.
Key Policy Areas
Courts, Government Facilities, Federal Spending
Primary Purpose
Restricts new Federal courthouse construction unless the General Services Administration uses courtroom-sharing ratios for district, bankruptcy, senior, and magistrate judges, updates the courthouse Design Guide within 180 days, and fully uses or relinquishes existing GSA courthouse space when new capacity is added.
Policy Domains
House resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal taxpayers
- General Services Administration portfolio managers
- Federal court administrators
- Congressional oversight committees
Identified Costs
- General Services Administration
- Active district judges
- Bankruptcy judges
- Senior district judges
- Magistrate judges
- Courthouse architecture firms
- Courthouse construction contractors
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to …
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Senate returned papers to the House.
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works discharged by Unanimous …
Committee discharged; returned to the House of Representatives by unanimous …
Senate returned papers to House by by Unanimous Consent.
House requested return of papers pursuant to H.Res. 747
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment …
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to …
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Active district judges, Bankruptcy judges, Magistrate judges
General Services Administration, Taxpayers
Positive-direction: Taxpayers
Negative-direction: General Services Administration
Courthouse architecture firms, Courthouse construction contractors
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "gsa"
- → General Services Administration
- "administrator"
- → Administrator of General Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Minimum courthouse design ratios for active district, bankruptcy, senior district, and magistrate judge courtrooms.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology