Welcome to the Oct. 12 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? 

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver

“The Summer Day”

We’re back with some federal vacancy updates, dear reader. And SCOTUS arguments are in full swing. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has not accepted any new cases to its merits docket since our Oct. 5 issue. To date, the Court has agreed to hear 29 cases for the 2026-2027 term. Twenty-one have been scheduled for arguments.

Arguments

The Supreme Court will hear two arguments this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' current term.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

Oct. 13

• Beaird v. United Statesconcerns the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s commentary on the application of Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
  • The question presented: "Whether Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36 (1993) still correctly states the rule for the deference that courts must give the commentary to the Sentencing Guidelines."

Oct. 14

• Salazar v. Paramount Global concerns the Video Privacy Protection Act.
  • The question presented: "The question here is whether the phrase ‘goods or services from a video tape service provider’  as used in the VPPA’s definition of ‘consumer,’ refers to all of a video tape service provider’s goods or services or only to its audiovisual goods or services.”

In its October 2025 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 59 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' previous term.

Opinions

SCOTUS has not ruled on any cases since our Oct. 5 edition. The court has not issued rulings in any cases so far this term. 

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 Sept. 2 to Oct. 1. 

Highlights

• Vacancies: There were three new judicial vacancies since the September 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 three new nominations since the September 2026 report. 
• Confirmations: There were three new confirmations since the September 2026 report.

Vacancy count for Oct. 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 Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information.

New vacancies

Three judges left active status since the previous vacancy count, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. The president nominates individuals to fill Article III judicial position vacancies. Nominations are subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.

• Judge Josephine Staton assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
• Judge John Tharp, Jr. assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
• Judge Timothy M. Cain assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

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 Oct. 1.

New nominations

Trump announced three new nominations since the September 2026 report:

• Todd Butler, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Philip Aubart, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
• Brian Meyers, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

The president has announced 76 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025. For the purposes of this data, Ballotpedia considers the announcement of the intent to nominate an individual as a nomination. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

New confirmations

The Senate has confirmed three nominees since the September 2026 report. As of Oct. 9, the Senate has confirmed 56 of Trump's judicial nominees—45 district court judges, 10 appeals court judges, and one Court of International Trade judge—since January 2026.

• Angela Colmenero, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• Kasdin Mitchell, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• Matthew Byrne, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Comparison of Article III judicial appointments over time by president (1981-Present)

• Presidents have made an average of 74 judicial appointments through Oct. 1 of their second year in office. President Barack Obama (D) had the most appointees confirmed with 107, and President George W. Bush (R) had the fewest confirmations with 53.
• President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through four years with 174. W. Bush made the fewest through four years with 122.
• Obama made the most appointments through two years with 134. W. Bush made the fewest with 54.
• Obama made the most appointments through one year in office with 45. 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 Nov. 2 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.