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Federal judges nominated by George Washington
George Washington was president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. During his time in office, Washington made 38 successful nominations to the federal bench, where the nominee was confirmed and received their judicial commission. Nine nominations were unsuccessful–six nominees declined their nomination, two nominees were withdrawn, and one nomination was rejected by the U.S. Senate.[1][2]
List of judges
Historical context
Appointments by current president
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
Since taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump (R) has nominated 24 individuals to federal judgeships on Article III courts. As of August 4, 2025, five of the nominees were confirmed.
During his first term in office, President Donald Trump (R) nominated 274 individuals to federal judgeships. Trump made 245 judicial appointments.[3] Of those appointments, 234 were Article III judges.[4] Trump withdrew eight nominees and 143 received no vote from the Senate.[5]
Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count report tracking vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts each month. In the most recent report covering activity in September 2025, there were 50 Article III vacancies in the federal judiciary. To learn more about current vacancies in the federal judiciary, click here.
The following chart from the monthly federal vacancy count report for September 1, 2025, details the number of appointments made by President Trump to each type of Article III federal court since taking office. This chart is updated at the start of each month with new appointments data.
Appointments since Theodore Roosevelt
The following chart shows the total judgeship appointments made by each president from 1901 to 2024.
The following chart shows the judgeship appointments by court made by each president from 1901 to 2024. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is abbreviated as USCAFC. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims, previously known as the U.S. Court of Claims, is abbreviated USCFC.
The following chart shows the average number of judicial appointments per year in office by presidents from 1901 to 2024.
The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through September 1 of the first year of each president's second term in office. At this point in the term, Presidents Obama had the most appeals court appointments with 8.
The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through September 1 of the first year of presidents' second term in office. At this point in the term, President Obama had the most district court appointments with 19.
See also
- Federal judicial appointments by president
- Current federal judicial vacancies
- Judicial vacancies in federal courts
- George Washington
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States Courts
- Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present, Appointing President: George Washington," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Unsuccessful Nominations and Recess Appointments," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ United States Courts, "Judgeship Appointments by President," accessed January 20, 2021
- ↑ Article III judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution. They serve for life.
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Unsuccessful Nominations and Recess Appointments," accessed March 23, 2021
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington |
Bedford • Blair • Brearley • Cushing • Duane • Hopkinson • Innes • Jay • Law • Lowell • Pendleton • Rutledge • Sewall • Sullivan • Wilson | ||
| 1790 |
Bee • Drayton • Griffin • Iredell • Marchant • Morris • Paca • Sitgreaves • Stokes | ||
| 1791 - 92 | Chipman • Johnson • Lewis • Peters | ||
| 1793 - 95 | |||
| 1796 | |||
| 1797 | |||
| |||||||
