Federal Jurisdiction

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction: they may hear only the kinds of cases listed in Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution, and only those Congress has authorized by statute. Article III extends the judicial power to cases arising under the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties, cases involving ambassadors, admiralty and maritime cases, disputes to which the United States is a party, disputes between states, and disputes between citizens of different states, among others. The Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the first lower federal courts only part of that power.

Most federal cases today fall under two statutes. Federal question jurisdiction, granted generally in 1875, covers cases arising under federal law, and diversity jurisdiction, dating to 1789, covers lawsuits between citizens of different states when more than $75,000 is at stake, a limit set in 1997. Defendants sued in state court may remove eligible cases to federal court, and the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 expanded federal jurisdiction over large class actions. Federal courts must also find that a plaintiff has standing and that the dispute is a live case or controversy.

Because Congress creates the lower courts and controls the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction with exceptions, it can expand or narrow what federal courts hear, and the Court upheld such a change in Ex parte McCardle in 1869. Proposals to strip jurisdiction over controversial subjects recur, and in April 2025 the House passed a bill to limit the power of district judges to issue nationwide injunctions, which did not become law. Supporters of broad federal jurisdiction say it ensures uniform protection of federal rights, while critics say it pulls cases away from state courts and that Congress should rein in federal judges.