Welcome to the Sept. 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.
Do you remember
The twenty-first night of September?
Love was changin' the minds of pretenders
While chasin' the clouds away
- Earth, Wind & Fire
September
Greetings, dear reader! We hope you’re enjoying the last of the summer sun. As always, we’ve got a new batch of federal courts updates coming your way. So grab a seat, and let’s gavel in.
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Grants
SCOTUS has not accepted any new cases to its merits docket since our Aug. 10 issue. The court has accepted 25 cases for the 2026–2027 term.
Opinions
SCOTUS has ruled on two cases since our Aug. 10 edition. The court issued rulings in 70 cases for the 2025-2026 term.
Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS ruled on since Aug. 10:
Aug. 24
Trump v. California was decided without argument.
The outcome: On March 31, President Donald Trump (R) signed Executive Order 14399, which requires:
- The Secretary of Homeland Security to create and send lists to each state that catalog the residents of each state who are U.S. citizens above the age 18 at the time of an upcoming federal election.
- The U.S. attorney general would be required to “prioritize the investigation and, as appropriate, the prosecution of State and local officials or any others” who issue federal ballots to ineligible voters.
- The postal service would “initiate a proposed rulemaking” that includes several provisions. The executive order proposed a provision that outbound ballot envelopes must contain a unique barcode to facilitate tracking. It also proposed that the postal service not send absentee or mail-in ballots to anyone not on the state-provided list.
Twenty-three states are currently challenging this order. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an injunction on the executive order, which would prevent the federal government from implementing it in the 23 challenging states. In a 6-3 per curiam opinion, SCOTUS paused the injunction, allowing the Trump Administration to carry out the order. Click here to read more about this opinion.
Aug. 31
National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States was decided without argument.
The outcome: In a 5-4 per curiam opinion, SCOTUS paused an injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which stopped the construction of a new East Wing, which would include a below-ground military installation and an above-ground ballroom. The Supreme Court’s decision allows the construction to continue.
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 Aug. 2 to Sept. 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the August 2026 report. There are 27 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, 27 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There were 13 new nominations since the August 2026 report.
- Confirmations: There were no new confirmations since the August 2026 report.
Vacancy count for Sept. 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
One judge left active status since the previous vacancy count. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III judicial vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.
- Alan Albright assumed senior status from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
The following chart tracks the number of vacancies in the U.S. Courts of Appeals from President Donald Trump's 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 Sept. 1.
New nominations
President Trump announced 13 new nominations since the August 2026 report:
- Lee Rudofsky, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Samuel Adkisson, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
- Trevor Pemberton, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma
- Zach West, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
- Kyle Reardon, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
- Courtney Coker, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Richard Bennett, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Daniel Ballou, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
- Brad Kelley, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Peter Mansfield, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Robert E. Long Jr., to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Jesus Osete, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- Phil Axt, to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota
The president has announced 73 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 Sept. 1, the Senate has confirmed 53 of President Trump's judicial nominees—42 district court judges, 10 appeals court judges, and one Court of International Trade judge—since January 2025.
Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)
- Presidents have made an average of 71 judicial appointments through Sept. 1 of their second year in office. President Barack Obama (D) had the most appointees confirmed with 106, and President George W. Bush had the fewest confirmations with 51.
- President Bill Clinton 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 George 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 Sept. 28 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out!
Contributions
Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sam Post, Ellie Mikus, and Kate Carsella.