Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for March 2024


In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from February 2, 2024, to March 1, 2024. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the February 2024 report. There are 51 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, 52 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
  • Nominations: There have been nine new nominations since the previous report.
  • Confirmations: There have been six new confirmations since the previous report.

New vacancies

There were 51 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.9, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than the vacancy percentage in February 2024.

  • The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
  • Three (1.7%) of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
  • 48 (7.1%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.
  • None of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.

A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges, who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, are appointed for life terms.

Since the February 2024 report, two judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. As Article III judicial positions, these 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.

The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of March 1, 2024.

The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of March 1, 2024.

The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during the Biden administration from January 2021 to March 2024.

New nominations

Biden has announced nine new nominations since the previous report.

Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has nominated 218 individuals to Article III positions.

New confirmations

There have been six new confirmations since the previous report:

As of March 1, 2024, the Senate has confirmed 181 of Biden’s Article III judicial nominees—138 district court judges, 40 appeals court judges, two international trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice. To review a complete list of Biden’s confirmed nominees, click here.

Additional reading:

Federal judicial appointments by president

United States federal courts

Current federal judicial vacancies

Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

Judicial vacancies during Biden’s first term