Robe & Gavel: Federal Judicial Vacancy Count released for July 2025
Welcome to the July 7 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
-Li-Young Lee
“From Blossoms”
We can’t believe it’s that time again, dear reader. SCOTUS has concluded its October 2024-2025 term. Thank you for following along with us as we shared updates on these cases. There’s so much new to catch up on today. So grab a seat, and let’s gavel in!
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Grants
SCOTUS has accepted 14 new cases to its merits docket since our June 9 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.
Click the links where available below to learn more about these cases:
- First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin
- Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
- Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
- M & K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund
- Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment
- FS Credit Opportunities Corp. v. Saba Capital Master Fund, Ltd.
- Urias-Orellana v. Bondi
- Enbridge Energy, LP v. Nessel
- Rico v. United States
- National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission
- Little v. Hecox
- West Virginia v. B.P.J.
- Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi
- Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corporation (Consolidated with New Jersey Transit Corporation v. Colt)
Opinions
SCOTUS has ruled on 27 cases since our June 9 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.
Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS ruled on since June 9:
June 12, 2025
- Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Zuch
- Rivers v. Guerrero
- Martin v. United States (2025)
- Parrish v. United States
- Soto v. United States
- A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279
June 18, 2025
- Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas
- Oklahoma v. Environmental Protection Agency
- Perttu v. Richards
- United States v. Skrmetti
June 20, 2025
- Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization
- Esteras v. United States
- McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corp.
- Diamond Alternative Energy LLC v. Environmental Protection Agency
- Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida
- FDA v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.
June 26, 2025
- Hewitt v. United States
- Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic
- Gutierrez v. Saenz
- Riley v. Bondi
June 27, 2025
- Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
- Trump v. CASA, Inc. (consolidated with Trump v. Washington and Trump v. New Jersey)
- Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.
- Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research (Consolidated with Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition v. Consumers’ Research)
- Mahmoud v. Taylor
June 30, 2025
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 June 2 to July 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There were no new judicial vacancies since the June 2025 report. There are 49 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, 50 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There was one new nomination since the June 2025 report.
- Confirmations: There were no new confirmations since the June 2025 report.
Vacancy count for July 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
No judges left active status since the previous vacancy count. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III judicial position 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 July 1.
New nominations
President Trump announced one new nomination since the July 2025 report:
On July 2, President Trump announced the following nominations:
- 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
The president has announced 15 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.
New confirmations
As of July 1, the Senate has not confirmed any of President Trump’s judicial nominees. To review a complete list of Trump’s confirmed nominees from both presidential terms, click here.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)
- Presidents have made an average of 10.5 judicial appointments through July 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.
Looking ahead
We’ll be back on August 11 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.