In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies to all United States Article III federal courts from April 1 to May 1, 2021. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
Vacancies: There have been six new judicial vacancies since the March 2021 report. There are 76 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, 79 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
Nominations: There were three new nominations since the March 2021 report.
Confirmations: There have been no new confirmations since the March 2021 report.
New vacancies
There were 76 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 8.7.
• 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.
• 67 (10%) of the 673 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.*
• Two (22.2%) of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.
*District court count does not include the territorial courts.
Six 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 Catherine Blake assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
• Judge Emmet Sullivan assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
• Judge Amy Totenberg assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
• Judge Timothy Stanceu assumed senior status on the U.S. Court of International Trade.
• Judge Colleen McMahon assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Judge George Daniels assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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 May 1, 2021.
New nominations
President Joe Biden (D) has announced three new nominations since the March 2021 report.
New confirmations
As of May 1, 2021, there have been no federal judicial confirmations during the Biden administration.
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