In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from Oct. 2 to Nov. 1. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the October 2026report. There are 28 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, 28of 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 28 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 3.2, which is 0.1 percentage points higher than the vacancy percentage in October 2026.
- The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
- None ofthe 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
- Twenty-eight (4.2%) of the 673 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.
One judge left active status, creating an Article III life-term judicial vacancy. As an Article III judicial position, this vacancy must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
- Judge Thomas Varlan assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Federal judicial vacancies
The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of November 1.
The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of November 1.
The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during the Trump administration from January 21, 2025, to November 1.
New nominations
President Trump has announced no new nominations since the previous report.
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has announced his intent to nominate 76 individuals to Article III positions. Of these, 73 have been officially nominated.
New confirmations
There were no new confirmations since the previous report.
As of Nov. 1, the Senate has confirmed 56 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees since January 2025: 45 district court judges, 10 appeals court judges, one Court of International Trade judge, and no Supreme Court justices.
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