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

By

Myj Saintyl

There were 28 vacancies out of 890 authorized federal judicial posts as of Oct. 15. All 28 were for Article III judgeships. This report is limited to Article III courts, where appointees are confirmed to lifetime judgeships.

In the past month:

  • Three judges have been confirmed.
  • Sixteen judges have been nominated.

By Oct. 15 — 634 days in office — President Donald Trump (R) had nominated 79 judges to Article III judgeships. For historical comparison*:

  • President Joe Biden (D) had nominated 142 individuals during his first term, 97 of which were ultimately confirmed to their positions.
  • President Donald Trump (R) had nominated 175 individuals during his first term, 86 of which were ultimately confirmed to their positions.
  • President Barack Obama (D) had nominated 103 individuals during his first term, 69 of which were confirmed.
  • President George W. Bush (R) had nominated 171 individuals during his first term, 100 of which 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 W. Bush administrations (2001-present).

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

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tracker counts all Article III nominations, including unsuccessful nominations (for example, when a nomination was withdrawn or the U.S. Senate did not vote on the nomination), renominations of individuals to the same court, and recess appointments.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