The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 11/5/2019

November 5, 2019

Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for October 2019! 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.

HIGHLIGHTS

Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the September 2019 report. There are 94 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report. Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 103 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.

Nominations: There have been four new nominations since the September 2019 report.

Confirmations: There have been five new confirmations since the September 2019 report.

What's a vacancy?

A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. 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 5, 2019

The vacancy level remained at yellow in October. The total vacancy percentage was 10.8 percent, and there were 94 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

One judge left active status, creating an Article III life-term judicial vacancy. As an Article III judicial position, this vacancy must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

• Judge Joan Ericksen assumed senior status on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

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, 2019.

New nominations

President Donald Trump (R) has announced four new nominations since the September 2019 report.

• Joshua Kindred, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.
• Jennifer Togliatti, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
• Bernard Jones, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
• Stephen Vaden, to the U.S. Court of International Trade.

New confirmations

Since October 4, 2019, the United States Senate confirmed five of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of November 4, 2019, the Senate has confirmed 157 of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

• Rachel Kovner, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• Charles Eskridge, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
• Frank W. Volk, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
• David Novak, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
• Justin Walker, confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

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 three specific dates: December 31 of the first year, December 31 of the second year, and November 1 of the third year. It includes Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (R) through Donald Trump (R).

• The average number of judicial appointees per president for the first three years through November 1 is 91.
• President John Kennedy (D) made the most appointments through his first year with 56. President Calvin Coolidge (R) made the fewest with none.
• President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through two years with 128. President Theodore Roosevelt (R) made the fewest through two years with eight.
• President Jimmy Carter (D) made the most appointments through November 1 of year three with 177. President T. Roosevelt made the fewest at that point with 18.

Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president and court type

As of November 2019, the breakdown of Article III judges is as follows:

• Supreme Court of the United States: 9 justices
• United States court of appeals: 179 judgeships
• United States district court: 677 judgeships
• United States Court of International Trade: 9 judgeships

The chart below shows the number of Article III judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate under each of the last 20 presidents on or before November 1 of their third years in office. The confirmations are broken up by court type.

• The median number of Supreme Court appointees is two. William Taft's (R) five appointments were the most among this set. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt (D), Jimmy Carter (D), and George W. Bush (R) did not appoint any justices.
• The median number of United States Court of Appeals appointees is 18. Trump appointed the most with 43, and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (R) and Woodrow Wilson (D) appointed the fewest with five each.
• The median number of United States District Court appointees is 66. W. Bush appointed the most with 137, and T. Roosevelt appointed the fewest with 10.

See also

• United States federal courts
• Current federal judicial vacancies
• Judicial vacancies during the Trump administration
• The Trump administration on federal courts