President Donald Trump (R) announced on August 12, 2025, his intention to nominate Alabama Supreme Court Justice Bill Lewis to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. This marks the first potential judicial elevation from a state supreme court since March 2023.

The last state supreme court justice to be successfully elevated to a federal judgeship was Maria Araujo Kahn. Former President Joe Biden (D) nominated Kahn on January 3, 2023, the first day of the 118th Congress. Kahn was confirmed on March 9, 2023. The following day, she was sworn into the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lewis is currently a Republican justice on the Alabama Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on May 20, 2025. Prior to serving on the state’s supreme court, Lewis served as a judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. As of August 13, 2025, Lewis is still awaiting an official federal judicial nomination and has not announced an official retirement date from the Alabama Supreme Court. To learn more about the federal appointment process, click here.

Since Ballotpedia started tracking state supreme court vacancies in January 2018, there have been a total of eight state supreme court justices who have been appointed and confirmed to a lifetime federal judicial position. Of these eight appointments, five were made by Trump during his first term. The remaining three appointments were made during the Biden administration. Half of the eight nominations were to United States district courts, and half were to United States Courts of Appeal. No state justices have been appointed to the United States Supreme Court since 2018.

Former Justice David Souter was the last U.S. Supreme Court justice to have previously served on a state supreme court. Souter served as a U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Souter previously served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1983 until his appointment to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in April 1990. Six months later, President George H. W. Bush (R) nominated Souter to replace William Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court.