Robe & Gavel: Federal Judicial Vacancy Count released for July 2024
Welcome to the July 8 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.
“Although we’ve come
To the end of the road
Still, I can’t let go.”
- The great poets Boyz II Men
We can’t believe it’s that time again. SCOTUS has officially released all of its opinions for the 2023-2024 term, and is now in recess. We’re not crying. You’re crying. Dry your tears, dear reader. Dry your tears, grab a seat, and let’s gavel on in.
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Grants
SCOTUS has accepted 17 new cases to its merits docket since our June 10 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 28 cases for the 2024-2025 term. The court has not yet scheduled the cases for argument.
Click the links below to learn more about these cases:
- E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera
- United States v. Skrmetti
- Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Becerra
- United States v. Miller (2025)
- Feliciano v. Department of Transportation
- Republic of Hungary v. Simon (2024)
- Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers, Inc.
- Kousisis v. United States
- Velazquez v. Garland
- NVIDIA Corp. v. E. Ohman J: or Fonder AB
- Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado
- Facebook, Inc. v. Amalgamated Bank
- Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida
- Hewitt v. United States
- Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC
- Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
- Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Todd Heath
Opinions
SCOTUS has ruled on 28 cases since our June 10 edition. The court has issued rulings in 60 cases this term. Two cases were dismissed from the docket. There are no cases still awaiting rulings.
Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS ruled on since June 10:
June 13
Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (Consolidated w/ Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine)
June 14
Campos-Chaves v. Garland (Consolidated w/ Garland v. Singh)
Office of the United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC
June 20
Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, Ohio
June 21
Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado
June 26
June 27
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy
Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P.
Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency
June 28
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson
Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce
July 1
Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
The Federal Vacancy Count
The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month’s edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from June 2 to July 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the June 10 report. There are 46 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, 47 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There were three new nominations since the June 2024 report.
- Confirmations: There were no new confirmations since the June 2024 report.
Vacancy count for July 1, 2024
A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies in the federal courts, click here.
*Though the territorial courts are named as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information.
New vacancies
Two judges left active status since the previous vacancy count, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III judicial position vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.
- Judge Robert Harwell assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
- Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies in the United States Courts of Appeals from President Joe Biden’s (D) inauguration to the date indicated on the chart.
U.S. District Court vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the U.S. District Courts as of July 1.
New nominations
President Joe Biden announced three new nominations since the June 2024 report:
- Mary Kay Costello, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Laura Provinzino, to the U.S. District District Court for the District of Minnesota.
- Noël Wise, to the U.S. District District Court for the Northern District of California.
The president has announced 241 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.
New confirmations
There have been no new confirmations since the previous report.
As of July 1, the Senate has confirmed 201 of President Biden’s Article III judicial nominees—156 district court judges, 42 appeals court judges, two international trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice—since January 2024.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)
- Presidents have made an average of 178.6 judicial appointments through July 1 of their fourth year in office.
- President Joe Biden (D) made the most appointments through July 1 of his fourth year with 201. President Ronald Reagan (R) made the fewest with 148.
- President Ronald Reagan (R) made the most appointments through one year in office with 41. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 13.
- President Donald Trump (R) made the most appointments through four years with 234. President Ronald Reagan (R) made the fewest through four years with 166.
Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.
Or, keep an eye on this list for updates on federal judicial nominations.
Looking ahead
We’ll be back on Aug. 12 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out!
Contributions
Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sam Post, and Ellie Mikus.