Welcome to the Aug. 11 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

My Garden—like the Beach—

Denotes there be—a Sea—

That’s Summer—

Such as These—the Pearls

She fetches—such as Me

-Emily Dickinson

My Garden—like the Beach

We’re back, dear readers. And we’ve got another fresh batch of federal court updates coming your way. So sit back, and let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our July 7 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 32 cases for the 2025-2026 term. None of these cases has been scheduled for arguments.

Opinions

SCOTUS has not ruled on any cases since our July 7 edition. The court has issued rulings in 67 cases for the 2024-2025 term. In its October 2023-2024 term, SCOTUS issued rulings in 60 cases. 

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 July 2 to Aug 1. 

Highlights

• Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the July 2025 report. There are 47 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 four new nominations since the July 2025 report. 
• Confirmations: There were five new confirmations since the July 2025 report.

Vacancy count for August 1, 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

Three 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 Dennis Saylor assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
• Judge Sean Cox retired from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
• Judge Stephen Vaden left his seat on the U.S. Court of International Trade after President Donald Trump (R) appointed him to be the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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 Aug. 1.

New nominations

President Trump announced four new nominations since the July 7 report:

• Joshua Dunlap, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
• Eric Tung, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• Bill Mercer, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
• Jennifer Mascott, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

The president has announced 16 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

New confirmations

The Senate has confirmed five nominees since our July 7 issue.

• Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
• Emil Bove to the U.S. United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
• Zachary Bluestone to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
• Joshua Divine to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
• Cristian M. Stevens to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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

• Presidents have made an average of 13 judicial appointments through August 1 of their first year in office.
• President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through four years with 174. President George W. Bush (R) made the fewest through four years with 122.
• President Barack Obama (D) made the most appointments through two years with 134. President W. Bush made the fewest with 54.
• President Obama made the most appointments through one year in office with 45. President W. Bush made the fewest with 22.

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.

President Trump’s nominees so far

On July 14, the Senate confirmed Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, making her the first nominee to be confirmed during President Trump’s second term. Hermandorfer received her commission and joined the court on July 17. 

As of Aug. 1, the Senate has confirmed five of Trump’s judicial nominees—three district court judges and two appeals court judges—since January 2025. By this time in his second term, President Obama had 29 judicial confirmations, President W. Bush had 10, and President Clinton had nine. 

According to U.S. Courts, as of publication, there are 10 Article III nominations pending. There were 10 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.

Looking ahead

We’ll be back on Aug. 25 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.