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Tracker: Article III federal judicial nominations by president by days in office since 2001

By

Myj Saintyl

There are 890 authorized federal judicial posts and 36 vacancies as of April 2. Thirty-five of those were for Article III judgeships. This report is limited to Article III courts, where appointees are confirmed to lifetime judgeships. In the past month:

  • One judge has been confirmed.
  • No judges have been nominated.

By March 31 — 436 days in office — President Donald Trump (R) nominated 47 individuals to Article III judgeships. For historical comparison*: 

  • President Joe Biden (D) nominated 83 individuals during his first term, 74 of whom were ultimately confirmed to their positions.
  • President Trump nominated 104 individuals during his first term, 76 of whom were ultimately confirmed to their positions.
  • President Barack Obama (D) nominated 59 individuals during his first term, 54 of whom were confirmed.
  • President George W. Bush (R) nominated 138 individuals during his first term, 83 of whom were confirmed.

*Note: These figures include unsuccessful nominations.

The following data visualizations track the number of Article III judicial nominations by president by days in office during the Biden, Trump, Obama, and George W. Bush administrations (2001-present). 

The first tracker is limited to successful nominations, where the nominee was ultimately confirmed to their respective court:

The second tracker counts all Article III nominations, including unsuccessful nominations (for example, when the nomination was withdrawn or the U.S. Senate did not vote on the nomination), renominations of individuals to the same court, and recess appointments. A recess appointment occurs when the president appoints a federal official while the Senate is in recess.

The data contained in these charts is compiled by Ballotpedia staff from publicly available information provided by the Federal Judicial Center. The comparison by days shown between the presidents is not reflective of the larger state of the federal judiciary during their respective administrations and is intended solely to track nominations by president by day.

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