Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 in February 1801, which was John Adams’s last month as president. The act reduced the number of Supreme Court justices to five. It created 16 circuit courts, established a judgeship for each, and increased the staff for these courts. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed the measure in an attempt to place Federalists on the courts before the new Republican president, Thomas Jefferson, and Republican members of Congress took office. (At that time, new presidents took office in March.) Adams appointed Federalist judges in the last hours of his presidency in March. The appointment of these "midnight judges" infuriated Republicans. Jefferson ordered Secretary of State James Madison to withhold the judicial appointment of William Marbury. Marbury appealed to the Supreme Court to force Madison to deliver the appointment. In 1803 the Supreme Court ruled in Marbury v. Madison that the Court lacked jurisdiction. At the same time, Marshall strengthened the powers of the Supreme Court by establishing judicial review, or the power of the Supreme Court to declare a law of Congress unconstitutional. The Senate repealed the Judiciary Act in 1802.
