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 October 2 to November 1.
Highlights
- Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the October 2020 report. As of November 1, 59 out of 870 (6.8%) active Article III judicial positions on the courts covered in this report were vacant.
Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 66 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
- Nominations: There have been two new nominations since the October 2020 report.
- Confirmations: There have been two new confirmations since the October 2020 report.
Vacancy count for November 1, 2020
A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies on 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
Two judges have left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. A presidential nomination is required to fill an Article III vacancy. Nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
The chart below shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) on January 20, 2017 to November 1, 2020.
U.S. District Court vacancies
The following map displays U.S. District Court vacancies as of November 1.
New nominations
President Trump has announced two new nominations since the October 2020 report.
The president has announced 273 Article III judicial nominations since taking office January 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017, 92 in 2018, and 77 in 2019. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.
New confirmations
Between October 2 and November 1, 2020, the Senate confirmed two of the president’s nominees to Article III courts.
Between January 2017 and November 1, 2020, the Senate confirmed 220 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—162 district court judges, 53 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and three Supreme Court justices.
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, if you prefer, we also maintain a list of individuals the president has nominated.
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