In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies to all United States Article III federal courts from March 1 to April 1. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
Vacancies: There have been five new judicial vacancies since the February 2021 report. There are 70 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, 73 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
Nominations: There were 10 new nominations since the February 2021 report.
Confirmations: There have been no new confirmations since the February 2021 report.
New vacancies
There were 70 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 8.1.
• 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.
• 62 (9.2%) of the 673 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.
Five 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 Peter Hall assumed senior status on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.*
• Judge Merrick Garland retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Judge Mary Briscoe assumed senior status on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
• Judge Darnell Jones assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
• Judge Anthony J. Battaglia assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
*Judge Hall’s service ended upon his death seven days after assuming senior status.
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 April 1.
New nominations
President Joe Biden (D) has announced 10 new nominations since the February 2021 report.
New confirmations
As of April 1, there have been no federal judicial confirmations during the Biden administration.
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