Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Federal judges nominated by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. During his time in office he had 17 judges successfully nominated and confirmed to the federal bench. Jefferson also had three nominees decline their nomination.[1][2]
List of judges
| First name | Last name | Court | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry | Livingston | Supreme Court | 1807 - 1823 |
| Thomas | Todd | Supreme Court | 1807 - 1826 |
| William | Johnson | Supreme Court | 1804 - 1834 |
| William | Cranch | DC Circuit | 1806 - 1855 |
| Allen | Duckett | DC Circuit | 1806 - 1809 |
| Pierpont | Edwards | District of Connecticut | 1806 - 1826 |
| James | Houston | District of Maryland | 1806 - 1819 |
| David | Barnes | District of Rhode Island | 1802 - 1812 |
| Dominic | Hall | Fifth Circuit | 1801 - 1802 |
| Dominic | Hall | District of Orleans | 1804 - 1812 |
| Edward | Harris | Fifth Circuit | 1802 - 1802 |
| William | Kilty | DC Circuit | 1802 - 1806 |
| Henry | Potter | Fifth Circuit | 1802 - 1802 |
| Henry | Potter | Albemarle, Cape Fear, and Pamptico Districts of North Carolina | 1802 - 1857 |
| William | Stephens | District of Georgia | 1802 - 1818 |
| Charles | Byrd | District of Ohio | 1803 - 1828 |
| Nicholas | Fitzhugh | DC Circuit | 1803 - 1814 |
| John | Sherburne | District of New Hampshire | 1804 - 1830 |
| Matthias | Tallmadge | District of New York | 1806 - 1814 |
| Matthias | Tallmadge | Northern District of New York | 1814 - 1819 |
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
- Thomas Jefferson
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, "History of the Federal Judiciary - Biographical Directory of Federal Judges," accessed June 30, 2014 Select "Nominating President"
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Unsuccessful Nominations and Recess Appointments," accessed March 23, 2015
- ↑ 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
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson |
Barnes • Byrd • Cranch • Duckett • Edwards • Fitzhugh • Hall • Harris • Houston • Johnson Jr • Kilty • Livingston • Potter • Sherburne • Stephens • Tallmadge • Todd | ||
| |||||||
