Welcome to the April 13 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.
"In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist (in) together."
- Victor Glover, pilot of NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon.
Dear reader, it is once again time for our federal vacancy count, where we review last month’s federal courts updates. As always, we have a lot to cover. So let’s gavel in!
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Grants
SCOTUS has accepted one new case to its merits docket since our March 30 issue. To date, the Court has agreed to hear 59 cases for argument for the 2025-2026 term and six cases for the 2026-2027 term.
Click the links below to learn more about these cases:
- Johnson v. United States Congress originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and concerns the Veterans’ Judicial Review Act.
Arguments
The Supreme Court will not hear arguments this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' current term.
In its October 2024 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 65 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS's previous term.
Opinions
SCOTUS has ruled on one case since our March 30 edition. The court has issued rulings in 24 cases so far this term. At this point in the 2024-2025 term, SCOTUS had issued rulings in 25 cases.
Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS ruled on since March 30:
March 31
Chiles v. Salazar was argued before the court on Oct. 7, 2025.
The case concerns whether Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-245-224(1)(t)(V), which regulates the speech of professionals advising clients and patients, violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
The outcome: In an 8-1 opinion, SCOTUS reversed and remanded the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, holding that because Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as it applied to Ms. Chiles’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, the lower courts erred by not applying sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny. Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the opinion of the court.
The Federal Vacancy Count
The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all U.S. Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month’s edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from March 2 to April 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There have been no new judicial vacancies since the March 2026 report. There are 35 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report. Including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. territorial courts, 36 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There were four new nominations since the March 2026 report.
- Confirmations: There was one new confirmation since the March 2026 report.
Vacancy count for April 1, 2026
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 U.S. 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
No judges have left active status since the previous vacancy count. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies in the U.S. Courts of Appeals from President Donald Trump's (R) 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 April 1.
New nominations
President Trump announced four new nominations since the March 2026 report:
- Jeffrey T. Kuntz, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- Rob Jones, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- John Marck, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Mike Hendershot, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
New confirmations
As of April 1, the Senate has confirmed 34 of President Trump's judicial nominees—28 district court judges, and 6 appeals court judges—since January 2025. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)
- Presidents have made an average of 44 judicial appointments through April 1 of their second year in office. President Barack Obama (D) had the most appointees confirmed with 64, and President George W. Bush (R) had the fewest confirmations with 29.
- President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through four years with 174. President George W. Bush made the fewest through four years with 122.
- President Obama 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.
Looking ahead
We’ll be back on April 20 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.