In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from March 2, 2024, through April 1, 2024. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Vacancies: There have been no new federal judicial vacancies since the March 2024 report. There are 44 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, 45 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There have been five new nominations since the previous report.
- Confirmations: There have been nine new confirmations since the previous report.
New vacancies
There were 44 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.1, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than the vacancy percentage in March 2024.
- The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
- Two (1.1%) of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
- 42 (6.2%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.
- None of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.
A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges, who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, are appointed for life terms.
No judges left active status, which would have created 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.
U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of April 1, 2024.
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of April 1, 2024.
The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during President Joe Biden’s (D) administration from January 2021 to April 2024.
New nominations
Biden has announced five new nominations since the previous report.
- Brian Murphy, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- Rebecca Pennell, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
- Kevin Ritz, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Detra Shaw-Wilder, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- Jeannette Vargas, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has nominated 223 individuals to Article III positions.
New confirmations
Since the previous report, the U.S. Senate has confirmed nine of Biden’s nominees to Article III seats:
- Ernesto Gonzalez, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Leon Schydlower, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Edward Kiel, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Eumi Lee, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Nicole Berner, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Melissa DuBose, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
- Jasmine Yoon, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- Sunil Harjani, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Kelly Rankin, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming
As of April 1, 2024, the Senate has confirmed 190 of Biden’s judicial nominees—146 district court judges, 41 appeals court judges, two international trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice.
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