According to the latest vacancy data from the U.S. Courts, there were 23 total announced upcoming vacancies for Article III judgeships. Article III judgeships refer to federal judges who serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of International Trade, or one of the 13 U.S. courts of appeal or 94 U.S. district courts. These are lifetime appointments made by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
These positions are not yet vacant but will be at some point in the future with every judge having announced his or her intent to either leave the bench or assume senior status. In the meantime, these judges will continue to serve in their current positions.
The president and Senate do not need to wait for a position to become vacant before they can start the confirmation process for a successor. For example, Kato Crews was nominated to replace Judge Raymond P. Moore after he assumes senior status on June 20. There are currently four nominees pending for upcoming vacancies.
Eight vacancy effective dates have not been determined because the judge has not announced the date he or she will leave the bench. The next upcoming scheduled vacancy will take place on April 14, when United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Judge Audrey Fleissig assumes senior status.
In addition to these 23 upcoming vacancies, there are 79 Article III vacancies in the federal judiciary out of the 870 total Article III judgeships. Including non-Article III judges from the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, there are 81 vacancies out of 890 active federal judicial positions.
President Joe Biden (D) has nominated 154 individuals to federal judgeships on Article III courts. One hundred and six of those nominees have been confirmed. Of the 31 nominees going through the confirmation process, 22 are awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate, six are awaiting a committee vote, and three are awaiting a committee hearing.
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