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Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia
National
Ellie Mikus

Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for December 2023

In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from November 2 through December 1, 2023. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the November 2023 report. There are 63 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, 64 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
  • Nominations: There have been five new nominations since the previous report.
  • Confirmations: There have been 11 new confirmations since the previous report.

New vacancies

There were 63 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 7.2, which is 0.7 percentage points lower than the vacancy percentage in November 2023.

  • The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
  • Seven (3.9%) of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
  • 60 (8.9%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.
  • Two (22.2%) 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.

Four 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.

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 Joe Biden (D) to the date indicated on the chart.

The following maps show the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals at Biden’s inauguration and as of December 1, 2023.

New nominations

Biden has announced five new nominations since the previousreport:

Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has nominated 195 individuals to Article III positions.

New confirmations

There have been 11 new confirmations since the previous report:

As of December 1, 2023, the Senate has confirmed 159 of Biden’s judicial nominees—121 district court judges, 37 appeals court judges, and one Supreme Court justice—since January 2021.

Additional reading:

Federal judicial appointments by president

United States federal courts

Current federal judicial vacancies

Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

Judicial vacancies during Biden’s first term

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