In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies in Article III courts from July 2 to Aug. 1. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the June 2021 report. There are 80 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report. Including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. territorial courts, 84 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There were no new nominations since the June 2021 report.
- Confirmations: There has been one new confirmation since the June 2021 report.
Two 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 William Hayes assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
- Judge John Jones III retired from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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 Aug. 1.
New nominations
President Joe Biden (D) has announced no new nominations since the June 2021 report.
New confirmations
As of Aug. 1, the Senate has confirmed eight of President Biden’s judicial nominees—five district court judges and three appeals court judges—since January 2021.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
- Deborah Boardman, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- Lydia Kay Griggsby, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- Julien Xavier Neals, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Zahid Quraishi, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Regina Rodriguez, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- Tiffany Cunningham, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
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