Federal Judiciary Tracker An up-to-date look at the federal judiciary and the status of President Trump’s judicial nominations December 5, 2019 Trump has had 168 federal judges confirmed while 39 seats remain vacant without a nominee
Status of key positions President Trump inherited 108 !" requiring Senate federal judge vacancies confirmation As of November 21, 2019: No nominee Awaiting confirmation #$ 151 judiciary positions have opened up Confirmed during Trump’s presidency and either remain vacant or have been filled Source: National Journal as of December 5, 2019
%&$ Total: 259 potential Trump nominations Trump has had more circuit judges confirmed than the average of recent presidents at this point
Number of Federal Judges Nominated and Confirmed
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Number of Federal Judges Nominated and Confirmed
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;<=2,34 !#" #) ) An overview of the Article III courts
US District Courts US Court of Appeals Supreme Court
Organization: Organization: Organization: ! The nation is split into 94 ! Federal judicial districts ! The Supreme Court is the federal judicial districts are organized into 12 highest court in the US ! The District of Columbia circuits, which each have a ! There are nine justices on and four US territories court of appeals. There are the bench: one chief justice have a district court 13 US Court of Appeals and eight associate justices ! There are three judges and no jury Court cases: ! The Court has jurisdiction ! District courts hear over all federal and state disputes in trial and have a Court cases: courts, and is the final jury and district judge who ! Circuit courts hear interpreter of federal law hear the cases challenges to district courts within its circuit
The three courts listed here are Article III courts, meaning that they are federal courts established under Article III of the US Constitution and have lifetime appointments
Source: Ballotpedia Trump inherited over 100 vacant judiciary seats to fill at the beginning of his presidency
Number of Federal Judicial Vacancies At the Beginning of Each President’s Term
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*George HW Bush signed the Judicial Improvement Act of 1990 which created 85 new federal judicial positions. Due to congressional opposition and the 1991 Iraq War, Bush was not able to fill many of these positions, ultimately leaving a large number for Clinton to fill. 105 federal judges will be eligible to take senior status during Trump’s four years in office
Senior status: ! Article III judges can qualify for senior status through the “Rule of 80” ! Under senior status, judges continue to ' hear cases, but only a fraction of the !& Circuit court District court normal case-load (semi-retirement) ! Starting at age 65, a judge can take senior judges judges status after having served 15 years #) ! The years of service required for senior %E status decreases as age increases (at 66, only 14 years needed, etc.) ! Judges who take senior status create a vacancy for the president to fill
Appointed by a Republican Appointed by a Democrat
Source: Ballotpedia 1st Circuit: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island
6 judges* (4D, 2R), no vacancies
Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated
547CF=G HCFF+CI=;:J1+A )EE) KL H,18=*:++,C661 %"$( MC1B18 D18A+1=NI8?4 %""# 56789:8 /L=M:BC+7CC=*4:-.3:8= )E%E /01-1 <76671-=O1I1991P=H+L= )E%! /01-1 >1Q7A=21++:8 )E%( /01-1 *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 2nd Circuit: Connecticut, New York and Vermont 13 judges* (6D, 7R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R M:0C+9=O19S-188 %""" 56789:8 H:3T=510+18C3= %""( 56789:8 M:3C-1+I=U::6C+= %""$ 56789:8 UC9C+=;166 )EE( KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 3rd Circuit: Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the US Virgin Islands 14 judges* (6D, 8R), no vacancies Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated 547CF=R >L=2+::X3=D-794 )EE) KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 4th Circuit: Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia 15 judges* (9D, 6R), no vacancies Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated 56789:8[=KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 5th Circuit: Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas 16 judges* (5D, 11R), 1 vacancy Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated 547CF=R U+73?7661=/JC8 )EE# KL= *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 6th Circuit: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee 16* judges (5D, 11R), no vacancies Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated 547CF=R ML=K,I=5:6CP=H+L= %""# 56789:8 H18C=2+1839C99C+ D9+18?4 )E%E /01-1 O1+C8=ZC63:8=Y::+C %""# 56789:8 2C+87?C=2L=>:816A )E%% /01-1 ^+7?=561I %""' 56789:8 V-,6=*41.1+ )E%' *+,-. H,671=D-794=K700:83 )EE) KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 7th Circuit: Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin 11 judges* (2D, 9R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R >718C=U1-C61=<::A %""# 56789:8 H:C6=W61,- %"$! MC1B18 W+18X=^139C+0+::X %"$# MC1B18 Y7?41C6=O188C %"$' MC1B18 \6181=M:Q8C+= %"") KL;L *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 8th Circuit: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota 11 judges* (1D, 10R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R N1QC83X7 D-794 )EE) KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 9th Circuit: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington (1/2) 28* judges (16D, 12R), 1 vacancy Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated 547CF=R D7A8CI=*4:-13 %""& 56789:8 N1J+C8?C=HL5L= /?9:0C+=%#P= H1I=2I0CCbb )EE! KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 9th Circuit: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington (2/2) 29* judges (16D, 13R), no vacancies Nominee Date Nominee Date Current judge Date President Current judge Date President (if applicable) nominated (if applicable) nominated Y:+B18=54+739C8 )E%) /01-1 ^+7?=Y766C+ )E%" *+,-. H1?c,C678C=ZB,IC8 )E%) /01-1 2+7ABC9=21AC )E%" *+,-. U1,6=<19F:+A )E%) /01-1 >187C6=U1,6=5:66783 )E%" *+,-. V8A+CJ=;,+J79S )E%) /01-1 OC88C94=O7I,6 NCC )E%" *+,-. H:48=/JC83 )E%( /01-1 >187C6=V1+:8=2+C33 )E%" *+,-. Y7?4C66C=W+7CA618A )E%( /01-1 >187C66C=HL=;,831XC+ )E%" *+,-. Y1+X=2C88C99 )E%$ *+,-. MI18=ZC63:8 )E%$ *+,-. *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 10th Circuit: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming 12 judges* (7D, 5R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R *7-:94I=*I-X:Q7?4 )EE! KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ 11th Circuit: Alabama, Florida and Georgia 12 judges* (5D, 7R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R ^AJ1+A=^1+6=51+8C3bb %"") KL;L *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ DC Circuit: District of Columbia 11 judges* (7D, 4R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R YC++7?X=K1+618A %""' 56789:8 O1+C8=NC5+1F9=;C8AC+3:8 %""E KL;L *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+ Federal Circuit: Merging of the US Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the US Court of Claims 12 judges* (8D, 4R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=R D41+:8=U+:39 )EE% KL 9 judges (4D, 4R), no vacancies Current judge Date President Nominee (if applicable) Date nominated 547CF=H,397?C=R H:48=M:0C+93 )EE& KL *Does not include federal judges with senior status who in some cases have authority to vote in en banc decisions **Announced they will take senior status this year !"#$%&'()@A=5:,+93B=CDED+16=F,E7G716=5D89D+