In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from February 2, 2025, to March 1, 2025. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the February 2025 report. There are 43 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions in courts covered in this report. Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 44 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There have been no new nominations since the previous report.
- Confirmations: There have been no new confirmations since the previous report.
New vacancies
There were 43 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 4.9, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than the vacancy percentage in February.
- 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.
- Forty (5.9%) 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.
One judge left active status, creating an Article III life-term judicial vacancy. 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.
- Judge Gregory Frizzell assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States Court of Appeals as of March 1, 2025.
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of March 1, 2025.
The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during President Donald Trump’s (R) administration from January 21, 2025, to March 1, 2025.
New nominations
Trump did not announce any nominations during the first 40 days of his second term. Similarly, no president had made any nominations by this point in his term since President Ronald Reagan’s (R) administration.
New confirmations
The U.S. Senate had not confirmed any nominations.
Trump did not announce any nominations during the first 40 days of his second term. This is in line with modern presidents who came before him; no president had named a confirmed nominee by this point in his term since Reagan’s administration.
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