In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from March 2, 2025, to April 1, 2025. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Vacancies: There have been no new judicial vacancies since the March 2025report. There are 45 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, 45 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 45 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.2%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than the vacancy percentage in March 2025.
- 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.
- 42 (6.2%) 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.
No 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.
U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of April 1, 2025.
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of April 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 April 1, 2025.
New nominations
Trump has announced no new nominations since the previous report.
Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has not nominated any individuals to Article III positions.
New confirmations
Since the previous report, the U.S. Senate has confirmed none of Trump’s nominees to Article III seats.
As of April 1, 2025, the Senate has not confirmed any of Trump’s judicial nominees.
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