Welcome to the Sept. 9 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

We hope you’ve been enjoying your summer, dear reader. Fall is almost upon us, and next month, the SCOTUS 2024-2025 term officially begins. Are you excited? Good. So are we. In the meantime, here is a new batch of federal courts updates. Let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our Aug. 12 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 28 cases for the 2024-2025 term. Sixteen of those cases have been scheduled for argument. 

Arguments

The Supreme Court will begin its 2024-2025 term on Oct. 7. During its October sitting, the court will hear arguments in nine cases over two weeks.

The court’s November argument sitting begins on Nov. 4. The court will hear arguments in seven cases.

Opinions

SCOTUS has not issued any opinions since our Aug. 12 edition. 

The Federal Vacancy Count

The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month’s edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from Aug. 2 to Sept. 1. 

Highlights

• Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the August 2024 report. There are 48 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, 48 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.  
• Nominations: There were three new nominations since the Aug. 2024 report. 
• Confirmations: There were no new confirmations since the Aug. 2024 report.

Vacancy count for Aug. 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 United States 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 vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.

• Judge Glenn Suddaby assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
• Judge Geoffrey Crawford assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.

The following chart tracks the number of vacancies in the U.S. 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 vacancy percentages in the U.S. District Courts as of Sept. 1.

New nominations

President Biden announced three new nominations since the August 2024 report:

• Elizabeth Coombe, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
• Sarah Davenport, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
• Sharad Desai, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

The president has announced 251 Article III judicial nominations since taking office Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

New confirmations

As of Sept. 1, the Senate has confirmed 205 of President Biden’s judicial nominees—159 district court judges, 43 appeals court judges, two international trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice—since January 2021.

There have been no new confirmations since the previous report.

Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)

• Presidents have made an average of 185.1 judicial appointments through Sept. 1 of their fourth year in office.
• President Joe Biden (D) made the most appointments through Sept. 1 of his fourth year with 205. President Ronald Reagan (R) made the fewest with 149.
• 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.
• 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 Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through two years with 128. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 62.

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 Oct. 7 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.