The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 5/1/2020
May 1, 2020
Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for April 2020! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.
This month's edition covers April 3 to May 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 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 May 1, 2020
The vacancy level remained at blue in April 2020. The total vacancy percentage was 8.9 percent, and there were 77 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. 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.[1]
- Judge Karon Bowdre assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
- Judge Liam O'Grady assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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 May 1, 2020.
U.S. District Court vacancies
New nominations
President Donald Trump (R) has announced three new nominations since the March 2020 report.
- Justin Walker, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- Aileen Cannon, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- Dirk Paloutzian, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
New confirmations
Since April 2, 2020, the United States Senate has not confirmed any of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of May 1, 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
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 May 1 of the fourth year. It includes Presidents Jimmy Carter (D) through Donald Trump (R).
- The average number of judicial appointees per president through May 1 of the fourth year is 170.
- 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 table below shows the number of Article III judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate under each of the last seven presidents as of May 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 158, and President Regan (R) appointed the fewest with 109.
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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