Suggested headline: Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for March 1
Type: Monthly update
In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies to all United States Article III federal courts from February 1, 2021, to March 1, 2021. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
Vacancies: There have been seven new judicial vacancies since the January 2021 report. There are 64 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, 67 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
Nominations: There were no new nominations since the January 2021 report.
Confirmations: There have been no new confirmations since the January 2021 report.
New vacancies
There were 64 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 7.4.
• The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
• Four (2.2%) of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
• 59 (8.7%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.*
• One (11.1%) of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions is vacant.
*District court count does not include territorial courts.
Seven 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 Vanessa Bryant assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
• Judge Solomon Oliver assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
• Judge Victoria Roberts assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
• Judge Carmen Cerezo retired from the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
• Judge Janet Neff assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
• Judge Tim Savage assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
• Judge Paul Barbadoro assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
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 the inauguration of President Joe Biden (D) and as of March 1, 2021.
New nominations
As of March 1, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) had not announced any new nominations.
New confirmations
As of March 1, 2021, there have been no federal judicial confirmations during the Biden administration.
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