The Federal Judicial Vacancy Count 9/1/2019
September 1, 2019
Welcome to the Federal Vacancy Count for August 2019! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts.
This month's edition covers August 2 to September 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 September 1, 2019
The vacancy level remained at yellow in August. The total vacancy percentage was 11.8 percent, and there were 103 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.[1]
- Judge Rebecca Smith assumed senior status on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) to September 1, 2019.
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 September 1, 2019.
New nominations
President Donald Trump (R) has announced six new nominations since the July 2019 report.[2]
- Steven Menashi, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
- Jodi Dishman, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
- Karen Marston, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Richard Myers II, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
- Sarah Pitlyk, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
- Anuraag Singhal, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
New confirmations
Since July 31, 2019, the United States Senate confirmed two of President Trump's nominees to Article III seats. As of September 1, 2019, the Senate has confirmed 146 of President Trump’s judicial nominees.
- Miller Baker, confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of International Trade.
- Timothy Reif, confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of International Trade.
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 September 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 September 1 is 82.
- 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.
- Clinton also made the most appointments through September 1 of year three with 165. President Theodore Roosevelt made the fewest at that point with 18.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president and court type
As of September 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 (not including territorial courts): 673 judgeships
- United States Court of International Trade: 9 judgeships
The chart below show the number of Article III judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate under each of the last 20 presidents on or before September 1 of their third years in office. The confirmations are broken up by court type.
- The median 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 56. Clinton appointed the most with 135, 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
Footnotes
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