Congress has provided expanded federal jurisdiction over class actions through the enactment of The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, applicable to class actions filed on or after February 18, 2005.

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") is an integral part of President Bush's tort reform efforts. It is designed to facilitate both the removal of class actions from state to federal court and their eventual dismissal. CAFA amends 28 U.S.C. §1332, the diversity jurisdiction statute, vesting federal courts with original jurisdiction of any class action in which the matter in controversy exceeds $5,000,000 and is between citizens of different States. CAFA also includes a "Consumer Bill of Rights" as well as new procedures for court approval of class actions.

Whether CAFA will succeed in reducing costs to defendants in class action suits will likely not be determined any time in the near future. While it is certain that it is now easier to remove class actions to federal court, there is now a complex procedure for determining whether a class action will remain in federal court. Many of the primary terms in this procedure are left undefined which will result in litigation over class composition, what are "the primary defendants", what are "significant" defendants, and rules determining "principal injuries". It may now be more difficult for defendants to obtain court approval of settlements of class actions under new 28 U.S.C. §1713. Whether defendants ultimately will find a safe haven in federal court remains to be seen.