H.R. 282 would allow district court judges in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands to begin receiving retirement annuities earlier. Under current law, judges in those territories can retire, or continue serving in senior status, and receive annuities at the age of 65, if they have served for at least 15 years. Under the bill, they would be eligible to receive annuities at the age of 50 after having served for at least 10 years (the length of one appointed term).
In addition, H.R. 282 would set the annual cost-of-living adjustment applied to the annuity for those judges at the same rate as that for all other district court judges.
Four judges currently serve on district courts in the three territories (not including judges in senior status). Based on a review of the age and service length of those judges and historical data about the average period of service for federal judges, CBO expects that some of those judges would retire or enter senior status several years earlier over the 2023-2032 period than they would under current law. Because judges who retire or enter senior status create a vacancy—requiring the appointment of a new, full-time judge—enactment of the legislation would increase the total compensation paid by the judiciary.
The salaries and annuities of federal district court judges are classified as direct spending in the budget.
