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The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 5/29/2019

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FederalVacancy yellow.png
Key:
(Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.)
0%1%-9%
10%-24%25%-40%
More than 40%



May 29, 2019

Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for May 2019! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.

This month's edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from April 25, 2019, to May 29, 2019.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Vacancies: There have been four new judicial vacancies since the April 2019 report. There are 126 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, 137 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
  • Nominations: There have been eight new nominations since the April 2019 report.
  • Confirmations: There have been 15 new confirmations since the April 2019 report.


    • What's a vacancy?

    A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges are appointed for life terms. 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. Unless a judge is impeached and removed from office—something that has occurred eight times in the history of the federal judiciary—it is entirely up to the judge 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.

    Vacancy count for May 29, 2019

    The current vacancy level remained at yellow in May. The total vacancy percentage was 14.5 percent and there were 126 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.

    Vacancies by court

    Court # of Seats Vacancies
    Supreme Court 9 0% or 0 vacancies
    Appeals Courts 179 2.2% or 4 vacancies
    District Courts
    (Including territorial courts)[1]     		677 17.4% or 118 vacancies
    International Trade 9 44.4% or 4 vacancies


    New vacancies

    The following judges vacated their 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.

    New nominations

    President Donald Trump (R) has announced eight new nominations since the April 2019 report.[2]

    • Peter Phipps, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.
    • Douglas Cole, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
    • Charles Eskridge, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
    • Kea Riggs, to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.
    • William Shaw Stickman, to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
    • Jennifer Philpott Wilson, to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
    • David Barlow, to the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
    • Kevin R. Sweazea, to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.


    New confirmations

    Since April 25, 2019, the United States Senate confirmed 15 of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of May 29, 2019, the Senate has confirmed 112 of President Trump’s judicial nominees.


    Monthly map

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 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.
    2. ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees, United States Attorney Nominee, and United States Marshal Nominees," May 3, 2019
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