Welcome to the May 5 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.
I am a man: little do I last
and the night is enormous.
But I look up:
the stars write.
Unknowing I understand:
I too am written,
and at this very moment
someone spells me out.
Octavio Paz
“Brotherhood”
We’re back with a full plate of updates for you, dear reader. On April 29, we crossed the 100th day mark of President Donald Trump’s (R) term. In this edition, we’ll be highlighting the Trump administration’s effect on our federal courts. Are you ready? Let’s gavel in!
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Grants
SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our April 28 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 65 cases for the 2024-2025 term and eight cases for its 2025-2026 term. By this time during the 2023-2024 term, SCOTUS had agreed to hear 62 cases.
Arguments
The Supreme Court will not hear any arguments this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term.
Opinions
SCOTUS has ruled on two cases since our April 28 edition. The court has issued rulings in 29 cases so far this term.
Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS ruled on since April 28:
April 29
Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Kennedy was argued before the court on Nov. 5, 2024.
The case: concerns the calculation to determine Medicare compensation to hospitals and how to determine within the calculation whether patients are entitled to cash benefits through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
The outcome: In a 7-2 opinion, the court affirmed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court held that when calculating the Medicare fraction, an individual is “entitled to supplementary security income benefits” for the Medicare fraction when they are eligible to receive a supplementary security income benefits cash payment during the month of their hospitalization. Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered the opinion of the court.
April 30
Feliciano v. Department of Transportation was argued before the court on Dec. 9, 2024.
The case: concerns the differential pay statute—5 U.S.C. § 5538—that ensures that civilian federal employees who are also armed forces reservists are paid at their higher civilian salary than their lower military salary during their deployment.
The outcome: In a 5-4 opinion, the court reversed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, holding that a federal civilian employee called to active duty according to “any other provision of law . . . during a national emergency” is entitled to differential pay without having to prove that their service was substantively connected to some particular emergency.
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 April 2 to May 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There was one new judicial vacancy since the April 2025 report. 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, 46 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There was one new nomination announcement since the April 2025 report.
- Confirmations: There were no new confirmations since the April 2025 report.
Vacancy count for April 28, 2025
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
One judge left active status since the previous vacancy count, creating an Article III life-term judicial vacancy. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III judicial position vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.
- Judge Sharion Aycock assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies in the U.S. Courts of Appeals from President Trump’s 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 May 1.
New nominations
President Trump has announced his first new nomination since taking office for his second term:
- Whitney Hermandorfer, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here. By this time during President Trump’s first term, he had nominated one individual to federal judgeships on Article III courts.
Be sure to listen to the May 6 episode of our On the Ballot podcast to learn more about President Trump’s judicial nominations.
New confirmations
The Senate has not confirmed any nominees since President Trump took office.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)
- Presidents have made an average of 0.1 judicial appointments through May 1 of their first year in office.
- President Joe Biden (D) made the most appointments through four years with 235. President Reagan made the fewest through four years with 166.
- President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through two years with 128. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 62.
- President Reagan made the most appointments through one year in office with 41. President Obama made the fewest with 13.
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.
A look at President Trump’s effect on federal courts
April 29 marked President Trump’s 100th day in office. On May 1, on his 102nd day, Trump announced that he would nominate Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. President Trump’s first Article III nomination in his first term was Justice Neil Gorsuch who he nominated to the Senate on Jan. 31, 2017.
Since President Ronald Reagan (R), presidents have made an average of two Supreme Court appointments over the course of a single term. During his first term, President Trump made three Supreme Court appointments. President Joe Biden (D) made one, and President Barack Obama (D) made two.
Presidents have also made an average of 201 appointments throughout a term. President Biden made the most Article III judicial appointments with 235 judges, and President Trump made the second most during his first term with 234.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has been involved in several SCOTUS cases and emergency appeals. Emergency appeals are applications that generally seek immediate action from the court.
- On May 15, in Trump v. Washington (consolidated with: Trump v. CASA, Inc. and Trump v. New Jersey) SCOTUS will hear oral arguments to determine if the federal government is allowed to implement President Donald Trump’s (R) executive order ending birthright citizenship.
- In Trump v. Wilcox SCOTUS will determine whether it should put a pause on the U.S. District Court for the District Of Columbia’s orders reinstating Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris to the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board, respectively.
- In A.A.R.P. v. Trump SCOTUS will decide whether it should pause the removal of a group of Venezuelan men in immigration custody to the Salvadoran Terrorism Confinement Center. SCOTUS will also decide whether to preserve the status quo for people challenging their removal under the Alien Enemies Act in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
For more information on SCOTUS emergency orders related to the Trump administration, click here.
Looking ahead
We’ll be back on May 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.