Almost immediately after becoming the majority in Congress, the Republicans carried out their own reorganization of the federal judiciary, repealing the act of 1801 on the basis that the limited number of suits filed in federal court made the Federalists’ expansion of the judiciary unnecessary. The six regional circuits created by the 1801 act were retained, but Congress abolished the sixteen circuit judgeships and returned the justices of the Supreme Court to their circuit riding duties. The 1802 act also repealed the earlier act’s grant to the courts of general federal question jurisdiction, which was not reestablished until 1875.