The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 4/2/2020

April 2, 2020

Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for March 2020! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.

This month's edition covers March 3 to April 2 and compares Article III judicial appointments over time by president and by court type.

HIGHLIGHTS

Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the February 2020 report. There are 75 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, 81 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.

Nominations: There have been three new nominations since the February 2020 report.

Confirmations: There have not been any new confirmations since the February 2020 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 April 2, 2020

The vacancy level remained at blue in March 2020. The total vacancy percentage was 8.6 percent, and there were 75 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

Three judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. As Article III judicial positions, these vacancies 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 James Selna assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
• Judge Harry Mattice assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
• Judge Carlos Murguia resigned from the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

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 April 2, 2020.

New nominations

President Donald Trump (R) has announced three new nominations since the February 2020 report.

• Hala Jarbou, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
• Cory Wilson, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
• Kristi Haskins Johnson, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

New confirmations

Since March 3, 2020, the United States Senate has not confirmed any of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of April 2, 2020, the Senate has confirmed 193 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—138 district court judges, 51 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and two Supreme Court justices—since January 2017.

Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president

See also: Federal judicial appointments 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 April 1 of the fourth year. It includes Presidents Jimmy Carter (D) through Donald Trump (R).

• The average number of judicial appointees per president through April 1 of the fourth year is 168.
• 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 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

See also: Federal judicial appointments by president

The table below shows the number of Article III judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate under each of the last 20 presidents as of April 1 of their fourth year in office. The confirmations are broken up by court type.

• The median number of Supreme Court appointees is two. Four presidents (H.W. Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Trump) 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 30. Trump appointed the most with 51, and President Ronald Reagan (R) appointed the fewest with 24.
• The median number of United States District Court appointees is 138. President Carter (D) appointed the most with 157, and President Regan (R) appointed the fewest with 97.

See also

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