The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 7/1/2021
July 1, 2021
Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for June 2021! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.
This month's edition covers June 2 to July 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 July 1, 2021
The vacancy level remained at blue in June 2021. The total vacancy percentage was 8.9 percent, and there were 78 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, since the previous vacancy count. As Article III judicial positions, 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 John Dowdell assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
- Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson left her seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia when she was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
- Judge William G. Young assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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 Joe Biden (D) 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 Joe Biden (D) and as of July 1, 2021.
U.S. District Court vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of July 1, 2021.
New nominations
President Joe Biden (D) has announced 11 new nominations since the May 2021 report.
- Toby Heytens, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
- Myrna Pérez, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
- Jennifer Sung, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
- Jane Beckering, to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Jia Cobb, to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- Shalina Kumar, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Sarah A.L. Merriam, to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
- Michael Nachmanoff, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Sarala Nagala, to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
- Patricia Tolliver Giles, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Omar A. Williams, to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
New confirmations
As of July 1, 2021, the Senate has confirmed seven of President Biden's judicial nominees—five district court judges and two appeals court judges—since January 2021.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
- Deborah Boardman, to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
- Lydia Kay Griggsby, to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
- Julien Xavier Neals, to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Zahid Quraishi, to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Regina Rodriguez, to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
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: on their inauguration day (January 20th), July 1 of the first year, December 31 of the first year, and December 31 of the fourth year. It includes Presidents Ronald Reagan (R) through Joe Biden (D).
- The average number of judicial appointees per president through July 1 of the first year is 2.
- President Ronald Reagan (R) made the most appointments through his first year with 41. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 13.
- President Donald Trump (R) made the most appointments through four years with 234. President Ronald Reagan (R) made the fewest through four years with 166.
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 July 1 of their first year in office. The confirmations are broken up by court type. Presidents George H.W. Bush (R) and Donald Trump (R) had each made Article III judicial appointments by this point in their presidencies. President Bush had made four appointments and President Trump had made two.
See also
- United States federal courts
- Current federal judicial vacancies
- Judicial vacancies during the Biden administration
- The Biden administration on federal courts
Footnotes
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