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The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 11/2/2020
November 1, 2020
Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for October 2020! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.
This month's edition covers October 2 to November 1 and compares Article III judicial appointments over time by president and by court type.
What's a vacancy?
A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or dies. Article III judges refer to judges who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, which created and enumerated the powers of the judiciary. Article III judges are appointed for life terms. Unless a judge is impeached and removed from office—something that has occurred eight times in the history of the federal judiciary—it is the judge's decision how long they remain on the court. When judges decide to leave active duty, they may either retire completely from the court or take senior status.
To take senior status, judges must meet certain age and service requirements. Senior status is a classification for federal judges at all levels who are semi-retired. Senior judges continue to serve on federal courts while hearing a reduced number of cases. Both a decision to retire and a decision to take senior status trigger a vacancy.
The Constitution prescribes the process of filling a vacancy. The president nominates a candidate, who then must be confirmed by the United States Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee votes to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
For more information on this process, click here.
Vacancy count for November 1, 2020
The vacancy level remained at blue in October 2020. The total vacancy percentage was 6.8 percent, and there were 59 vacancies out of 870 Article III judicial positions.
A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies on the federal courts, click here.
| Key: | |
| (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) | |
| 0% | 1%-9% |
| 10%-24% | 25%-40% |
| More than 40% | |
Though the United States territorial courts are named as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information.
New vacancies
Two judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. A presidential nomination is required to fill an Article III vacancy. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
- Judge Amy Coney Barrett left the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit after she was elevated to the Supreme Court of the United States.
- Judge Juan Torruella died on October 26, 2020, leaving an open seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies
Chart
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) to the date indicated on the chart.
Maps
The following maps show the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals at the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) and as of November 1, 2020.
U.S. District Court vacancies
New nominations
President Donald Trump (R) has announced two new nominations since the September 2020 report.
- Thomas Kirsch, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
- Joseph Barloon, to the United States Court of International Trade.
New confirmations
Since October 2, 2020, the United States Senate has confirmed two of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of November 1, 2020, the Senate has confirmed 220 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—162 district court judges, 53 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and three Supreme Court justices—since January 2017.
- Amy Coney Barrett, confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
- Michael Newman, confirmed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
U.S. Supreme Court confirmation
- See also: Supreme Court vacancy, 2020
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States 52-48 on October 26, 2020. The vote was mostly along party lines, with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine as the only Republican to vote with Democrats against Barrett’s confirmation.
President Trump nominated Barrett on September 29 to succeed Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18 at the age of 87. Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton (D) and confirmed to the court in 1993. She was the second woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court. Click here for more information about the process to fill her seat.
Barrett was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit from 2017 to 2020. From 2002 to 2017, she was a professor of law at Notre Dame Law School. She previously worked in private practice and as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (1998-1999) and to Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1997-1998).
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president
The chart below details the number of Article III judicial appointments during each president's first term at four specific dates: December 31 of the first year, December 31 of the second year, December 31 of the third year, and November 1 of the fourth year. It includes Presidents Jimmy Carter (D) through Donald Trump (R).
- The average number of judicial appointees per president through November 1 of the fourth year is 200.
- President Ronald Reagan (R) made the most appointments through his first year with 41. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 13.
- President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through two years with 128. Presidents Jimmy Carter (D) and Obama (D) made the fewest through two years with 62 each.
- President Jimmy Carter (D) made the most appointments through three years with 197. President Reagan (R) made the fewest at that point with 122.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president and court type
The chart below shows the number of Article III judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate under each of the last seven presidents as of November 1 of their fourth year in office. The confirmations are broken up by court type.
- The median number of Supreme Court appointees is two. President Trump appointed the most with three. Three presidents (H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama) made two appointments. Presidents Jimmy Carter (D) and George W. Bush (R) did not appoint any justices.
- The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is 35. Carter appointed the most with 55, and Presidents Clinton and Obama appointed the fewest with 30 each.
- The median number of United States District Court appointees is 162. Carter appointed the most with 202, and President Obama appointed the fewest with 128.
See also
- United States federal courts
- Current federal judicial vacancies
- Judicial vacancies during the Trump administration
- The Trump administration on federal courts
Footnotes
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