Judiciary Tracker

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Provided by the Article III Project

We pull together data from multiple public sources to make it easy to access key information about the federal judiciary, judicial vacancies, and pending nominations.


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Pace of confirmations

Composition of the federal judiciary

Vacancies in the federal judiciary

Pending judicial nominations

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Pace of Confirmations

As of today, the 1460th day of Donald J. Trump's presidency, the Senate has confirmed 234 Article III judges nominated by President Trump, and 54 intermediate appellate judges nominated by President Trump. That is the 2nd fastest confirmation pace of all U.S. presidents, and the 2nd fastest confirmation pace for federal appellate judges of any U.S. president.

For comparison, here are the numbers of (1) confirmed Article III judges and (2) federal intermediate appellate judges nominated by every U.S. president at the 1460th day of their presidencies:


All Article III

  1. Jimmy Carter: 266
  2. Donald J. Trump: 234
  3. George W. Bush: 204
  4. William J. Clinton: 203
  5. Richard M. Nixon: 195
  6. George H.W. Bush: 194
  7. Barack Obama: 173
  8. Ronald Reagan: 168
  9. Lyndon B. Johnson: 153
  10. John F. Kennedy: 132
  11. Dwight D. Eisenhower: 101
  12. Herbert Hoover: 71
  13. William H. Taft: 69
  14. Harry S Truman: 66
  15. Gerald Ford: 64
  16. Warren G. Harding: 57
  17. Theodore Roosevelt: 57
  18. Franklin D. Roosevelt: 54
  19. Benjamin Harrison: 54
  20. Grover Cleveland: 53
  21. Woodrow Wilson: 46
  22. Calvin Coolidge: 45
  23. Abraham Lincoln: 40
  24. William McKinley: 34
  25. Ulysses Grant: 30
  26. George Washington: 29
  27. Rutherford B. Hayes: 25
  28. Chester A. Arthur: 24
  29. John Adams: 23
  30. Franklin Pierce: 21
  31. Thomas Jefferson: 12
  32. Martin Van Buren: 12
  33. James Buchanan: 12
  34. Andrew Johnson: 12
  35. John Quincy Adams: 11
  36. James Monroe: 11
  37. James Madison: 10
  38. James K. Polk: 10
  39. Andrew Jackson: 9
  40. John Tyler: 8
  41. Zachary Taylor: 6
  42. James A. Garfield: 6
  43. Millard Fillmore: 5

U.S. Courts of Appeals

  1. Jimmy Carter: 56
  2. Donald J. Trump: 54
  3. George H.W. Bush: 42
  4. Richard M. Nixon: 38
  5. George W. Bush: 35
  6. Ronald Reagan: 33
  7. Lyndon B. Johnson: 33
  8. William J. Clinton: 30
  9. Barack Obama: 30
  10. Dwight D. Eisenhower: 23
  11. John F. Kennedy: 21
  12. Herbert Hoover: 16
  13. William H. Taft: 13
  14. Franklin D. Roosevelt: 13
  15. Theodore Roosevelt: 12
  16. Harry S Truman: 12
  17. Gerald Ford: 11
  18. Woodrow Wilson: 10
  19. Calvin Coolidge: 10
  20. Benjamin Harrison: 10
  21. Grover Cleveland: 9
  22. William McKinley: 6
  23. Warren G. Harding: 6

Note: there are only 43 presidents listed in the left column because (1) Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th President, and (2) William Henry Harrison did not appoint any Article III judges. There are only 22 presidents listed in the right column because the modern-day U.S. Courts of Appeals were created by Congress in 1891, so no president before Grover Cleveland made appointments to those courts.



Composition of the Federal Judiciary

  As of Jan. 20, 2017   As of Jan. 19, 2021
Court Seats   D R Vacant Balance   D R Vacant Balance
Supreme Court 9   4 4 1 Tie   3 6 0 R + 3
 
D.C. Circuit 11   7 4 0 D + 3   7 4 0 D + 3
Federal Circuit 12   8 4 0 D + 4   8 4 0 D + 4
First Circuit 6   4 2 0 D + 2   4 1 1 D + 3
Second Circuit 13   7 4 2 D + 3   6 7 0 R + 1
Third Circuit 14   7 5 2 D + 2   6 8 0 R + 2
Fourth Circuit 15   9 6 0 D + 3   8 7 0 D + 1
Fifth Circuit 17   5 10 2 R + 5   5 12 0 R + 7
Sixth Circuit 16   5 10 1 R + 5   5 11 0 R + 6
Seventh Circuit 11   3 6 2 R + 3   2 8 1 R + 6
Eighth Circuit 11   1 9 1 R + 8   1 10 0 R + 9
Ninth Circuit 29   18 7 4 D + 11   16 13 0 D + 3
Tenth Circuit 12   7 5 0 D + 2   7 5 0 D + 2
Eleventh Circuit 12   8 3 1 D + 5   5 7 0 R + 2
 
Ct. Int'l Trade 9   5 2 2 D + 3   4 4 1 Tie
 
D. Alaska 3   1 1 1 Tie   1 2 0 R + 1
M.D. Alabama 3   0 1 2 R + 1   0 2 1 R + 2
N.D. Alabama 8   2 4 2 R + 2   2 6 0 R + 4
S.D. Alabama 3   0 2 1 R + 2   0 3 0 R + 3
E.D. Arkansas 5   3 2 0 D + 1   3 2 0 D + 1
W.D. Arkansas 3   3 0 0 D + 3   3 0 0 D + 3
D. Arizona 13   8 3 2 D + 5   7 6 0 D + 1
C.D. California 28   11 12 5 R + 1   9 13 6 R + 4
E.D. California 6   3 3 0 Tie   3 1 2 D + 2
N.D. California 14   13 1 0 D + 12   13 1 0 D + 12
S.D. California 13   5 7 1 R + 2   4 5 4 R + 1
D. Colorado 7   3 3 1 Tie   3 3 1 Tie
D. Connecticut 8   6 1 1 D + 5   5 2 1 D + 3
D. Columbia 15   11 0 4 D + 11   11 4 0 D + 7
D. Delaware 4   3 1 0 D + 2   2 2 0 Tie
M.D. Florida 15   7 7 1 Tie   6 9 0 R + 3
N.D. Florida 4   1 1 2 Tie   1 3 0 R + 2
S.D. Florida 18   8 8 2 Tie   7 10 1 R + 3
M.D. Georgia 4   2 1 1 D + 1   2 2 0 Tie
N.D. Georgia 11   8 2 1 D + 6   6 5 0 D + 1
S.D. Georgia 3   1 2 0 R + 1   0 3 0 R + 3
D. Hawaii 4   2 1 1 D + 1   2 2 0 Tie
N.D. Iowa 2   1 1 0 Tie   1 1 0 Tie
S.D. Iowa 3   2 1 0 D + 1   2 1 0 D + 1
D. Idaho 2   1 0 1 D + 1   1 1 0 Tie
C.D. Illinois 4   4 0 0 D + 4   4 0 0 D + 4
N.D. Illinois 22   15 6 1 D + 9   13 9 0 D + 4
S.D. Illinois 4   4 0 0 D + 4   2 2 0 Tie
N.D. Indiana 5   1 3 1 R + 2   1 4 0 R + 3
S.D. Indiana 5   3 1 1 D + 2   3 2 0 D + 1
D. Kansas 6   3 2 1 D + 1   1 5 0 R + 4
E.D. Kentucky 6   0 5 1 R + 5   0 6 0 R + 6
W.D. Kentucky 5   3 0 2 D + 3   2 3 0 R + 1
E.D. Louisiana 12   6 4 2 D + 2   6 6 0 Tie
M.D. Louisiana 3   3 0 0 D + 3   3 0 0 D + 3
W.D. Louisiana 7   1 4 2 R + 3   1 6 0 R + 5
D. Massachusetts 13   9 3 1 D + 6   8 3 2 D + 5
D. Maryland 10   8 1 1 D + 7   8 2 0 D + 6
D. Maine 3   2 1 0 D + 1   2 1 0 D + 1
E.D. Michigan 15   11 3 1 D + 8   11 4 0 D + 7
W.D. Michigan 4   0 4 0 R + 4   0 4 0 R + 4
D. Minnesota 7   3 2 2 D + 1   3 3 1 Tie
E.D. Missouri 9   4 3 2 D + 1   5 4 0 D + 1
W.D. Missouri 7   6 1 0 D + 5   6 1 0 D + 5
N.D. Mississippi 3   1 2 0 R + 1   1 2 0 R + 1
S.D. Mississippi 6   1 5 0 R + 4   1 5 0 R + 4
D. Montana 3   3 0 0 D + 3   3 0 0 D + 3
E.D. North Carolina 4   0 3 1 R + 3   0 4 0 R + 4
M.D. North Carolina 4   2 2 0 Tie   2 2 0 Tie
W.D. North Carolina 5   1 4 0 R + 3   1 4 0 R + 3
D. North Dakota 2   0 1 1 R + 1   0 2 0 R + 2
D. Nebraska 3   2 1 0 D + 1   2 1 0 D + 1
D. New Hampshire 3   1 2 0 R + 1   1 2 0 R + 1
D. New Jersey 17   7 8 2 R + 1   7 4 6 D + 3
D. New Mexico 7   2 5 0 R + 3   2 3 2 R + 1
D. Nevada 7   5 1 1 D + 4   5 0 2 D + 5
E.D. New York 15   6 6 3 Tie   6 6 3 Tie
N.D. New York 5   3 1 1 D + 2   3 1 1 D + 2
S.D. New York 28   21 6 1 D + 15   19 7 2 D + 12
W.D. New York 4   3 0 1 D + 3   3 1 0 D + 2
N.D. Ohio 11   6 4 1 D + 2   6 5 0 D + 1
S.D. Ohio 8   4 3 1 D + 1   3 5 0 R + 2
E.D. Oklahoma 2   0 1 1 R + 1   0 2 0 R + 2
N.D. Oklahoma 4   1 2 1 R + 1   1 3 0 R + 2
W.D. Oklahoma 7   1 3 3 R + 2   0 7 0 R + 7
D. Oregon 6   5 1 0 D + 4   4 2 0 D + 2
E.D. Pennsylvania 22   9 11 2 R + 2   9 12 1 R + 3
M.D. Pennsylvania 6   4 2 0 D + 2   3 3 0 Tie
W.D. Pennsylvania 10   2 4 4 R + 2   2 8 0 R + 6
D. Puerto Rico 7   3 3 1 Tie   2 5 0 R + 3
D. Rhode Island 3   1 1 1 Tie   1 2 0 R + 1
D. South Carolina 10   5 3 2 D + 2   5 5 0 Tie
D. South Dakota 3   3 0 0 D + 3   3 0 0 D + 3
E.D. Tennessee 5   2 3 0 R + 1   1 4 0 R + 3
M.D. Tennessee 4   3 0 1 D + 3   2 2 0 Tie
W.D. Tennessee 5   2 2 1 Tie   2 3 0 R + 1
E.D. Texas 8   3 2 3 D + 1   3 5 0 R + 2
N.D. Texas 12   2 6 4 R + 4   2 10 0 R + 8
S.D. Texas 19   8 9 2 R + 1   8 11 0 R + 3
W.D. Texas 13   4 7 2 R + 3   4 9 0 R + 5
D. Utah 5   3 1 1 D + 2   3 2 0 D + 1
E.D. Virginia 11   6 5 0 D + 1   5 5 1 Tie
W.D. Virginia 4   3 1 0 D + 2   3 1 0 D + 2
D. Vermont 2   2 0 0 D + 2   2 0 0 D + 2
E.D. Washington 4   4 0 0 D + 4   4 0 0 D + 4
W.D. Washington 7   0 4 3 R + 4   0 2 5 R + 2
E.D. Wisconsin 5   2 2 1 Tie   2 2 1 Tie
W.D. Wisconsin 2   2 0 0 D + 2   2 0 0 D + 2
N.D. West Virginia 3   1 2 0 R + 1   1 2 0 R + 1
S.D. West Virginia 5   3 2 0 D + 1   3 2 0 D + 1
D. Wyoming 3   2 1 0 D + 1   2 1 0 D + 1


Vacancies in the Federal Judiciary

The highlight color of the state column indicates whether that state has two Republican senators (red), two Democratic senators (blue), or one Republican senator and one Democratic senator (purple). (Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who were elected as independents, are counted as Democrats because they caucus with Senate Democrats.) Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have no senators, and the Court of International Trade, which is located in New York, is not subject to the "blue slip" procedure by which home-state senators can exercise limited veto power over judicial nominees.

Note: This tracker counts vacant Article III seats . There are 673 district judgeships, but 678 district court seats. The discrepancy is attributable to multiple seats held "concurrently" by a single judge:

As of today, there are 46 vacancies on the Article III courts, and 21 nominations pending to fill those vacancies.

Of the remaining 25 vacancies that are awaiting a nominee,

1 (4%) are in red states,

21 (84%) are in blue states,

3 (12%) are in purple states, and

0 (0%) are in states (or for courts) that have no senators.



Vacancies by court:


Court Vacancies Nominees Awaiting nominee
Supreme Court 0 0 0
Courts of Appeals 2 1 1
District Courts 43 19 24
Court of International Trade 1 1 0
Totals 46 21 25


All vacancies:


Court State Vacated By Vacated On Vacator Appointed By Nominee
First Circuit PR Torruella, Juan R. 10/26/20 Ronald Reagan Raul M. Arias-Marxuach
Seventh Circuit IL Flaum, Joel Martin 11/30/20 Ronald Reagan  
Ct Int'l Trade IT Gordon, Leo Maury 3/22/19 George W. Bush Joseph L. Barloon
W.D. Alabama AL Brasher, Andrew Lynn 6/30/20 Donald J. Trump Edmund G. LaCour, Jr.
C.D. California CA Snyder, Christina A. 11/23/16 William J. Clinton  
C.D. California CA O'Connell, Beverly Reid 10/8/17 Barack Obama Steve Kim
C.D. California CA Morrow, Margaret M. 1/6/16 William J. Clinton Jeremy B. Rosen
C.D. California CA Real, Manuel Lawrence 6/26/19 Lyndon B. Johnson Rick Lloyd Richmond
C.D. California CA Selna, James V. 3/3/20 George W. Bush  
C.D. California CA Guilford, Andrew J. 1/31/20 George W. Bush  
E.D. California CA England, Morrison C., Jr. 12/17/19 George W. Bush Dirk B. Paloutzian
E.D. California CA O'Neill, Lawrence Joseph 2/2/20 George W. Bush James P. Arguelles
S.D. California CA Anello, Michael M. 10/31/18 George W. Bush  
S.D. California CA Moskowitz, Barry Ted 1/23/19 William J. Clinton R. Shireen Matthews
S.D. California CA Houston, John A. 2/6/18 George W. Bush Knut Sveinbjorn Johnson
S.D. California CA Benitez, Roger T. 12/31/17 George W. Bush Adam L. Braverman
D. Colorado CO Krieger, Marcia S. 3/3/19 George W. Bush  
D. Connecticut CT Thompson, Alvin W. 8/31/18 William J. Clinton Barbara Bailey Jongbloed
S.D. Florida FL Moreno, Federico A. 7/17/20 George H.W. Bush  
D. Massachusetts MA Woodlock, Douglas Preston 6/1/15 Ronald Reagan  
D. Massachusetts MA O'Toole, George A., Jr. 1/1/18 William J. Clinton  
D. Minnesota MN Ericksen, Joan N. 10/15/19 George W. Bush  
D. New Jersey NJ Martini, William J. 2/10/15 George W. Bush  
D. New Jersey NJ Linares, Jose L. 5/16/19 George W. Bush  
D. New Jersey NJ Sheridan, Peter G. 6/14/18 George W. Bush  
D. New Jersey NJ Hochberg, Faith S. 3/6/15 William J. Clinton  
D. New Jersey NJ Kugler, Robert B. 11/2/18 George W. Bush  
D. New Jersey NJ Simandle, Jerome B. 7/19/19 George H.W. Bush  
D. New Mexico NM Herrera, Judith C. 7/1/19 George W. Bush Brenda M. Saiz
D. New Mexico NM Brack, Robert C. 7/25/18 George W. Bush Fred Joseph Federici III
D. Nevada NV Jones, Robert Clive 2/1/16 George W. Bush  
D. Nevada NV Mahan, James C. 6/29/18 George W. Bush Jennifer P. Togliatti
E.D. New York NY Cogan, Brian Mark 6/12/20 George W. Bush Hector Gonzalez
E.D. New York NY Irizarry, Dora L. 1/26/20 George W. Bush David Carey Woll, Jr.
E.D. New York NY Bianco, Joseph Frank 5/17/19 George W. Bush Saritha Komatireddy
N.D. New York NY Sharpe, Gary L. 1/1/16 George W. Bush Ryan Thomas McAllister
S.D. New York NY Forrest, Katherine Bolan 9/11/18 Barack Obama Iris Lan
S.D. New York NY Sullivan, Richard Joseph 10/25/18 George W. Bush Jennifer H. Rearden
E.D. Pennsylvania PA Stengel, Lawrence F. 8/31/18 George W. Bush  
E.D. Virginia VA O'Grady, Liam 5/1/20 George W. Bush  
W.D. Washington WA Pechman, Marsha J. 2/6/16 William J. Clinton  
W.D. Washington WA Robart, James L. 6/28/16 George W. Bush  
W.D. Washington WA Settle, Benjamin Hale 1/1/20 George W. Bush  
W.D. Washington WA Lasnik, Robert S. 1/27/16 William J. Clinton  
W.D. Washington WA Leighton, Ronald B. 8/31/20 George W. Bush  
E.D. Wisconsin WI Griesbach, William C. 12/31/19 George W. Bush  


Pending Judicial Nominations

As of today, there are 0 Article III nominations pending in the U.S. Senate. Also listed below are 3 recently confirmed nominations that may not yet be reflected in the composition and vacancy trackers on this page.


A brief primer on Senate procedure: The first step when a nomination is received in the Senate is to refer it to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where a hearing will be held regarding the nomination. Usually about four weeks after the hearing, the Judiciary Committee "reports" the nomination to the floor of the Senate, where it is placed on the Executive Calendar. In modern practice, because filibusters of judicial nominees have become routine, the next step is for the Majority Leader to file a cloture petition. If the Senate successfully invokes cloture, which requires a simple majority, then debate is limited to two hours for district court nominees, or 30 hours for court of appeals and Supreme Court nominees. (Note: these are "floor hours," so only hours that the Senate is actually in session count.) Finally, when cloture takes effect, the Senate can proceed to a confirmation vote, which also requires a simple majority.

There is technically one more step before a confirmed nominee becomes a judge: the President must sign and deliver the nominee's judicial commission. Because this step often takes several days, there may be a lag between when Senate data reflects a nominee's confirmation and when the Federal Judicial Center and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reflects that a vacancy has been filled.

Note: The data underlying this table is only updated once per day. For up-to-the-minute information, consult the Senate Republican Cloakroom.

Nom. # Nomination Date Nominee Court Vacancy Created By Status Status Date

Recent confirmations
PN29 1/15/19 3 nominations, beginning with Brig. Gen. David W. Ling, and ending with Col. Rodney J. Fische nations, beginning with Brig. Gen. David W. Ling, and ending with Col. Rodney J. Fische nations, beginning with Brig. Gen. David W. Ling, and ending with Col. Rodney J. Fische Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote. 2/5/19
PN25 1/15/19 One nomination, beginning with Col. Frank A. Rodman, and ending with Col. Frank A. Rodma mination, beginning with Col. Frank A. Rodman, and ending with Col. Frank A. Rodma mination, beginning with Col. Frank A. Rodman, and ending with Col. Frank A. Rodma Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote. 2/5/19
PN24 1/9/19 One nomination, beginning with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, and ending with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garret mination, beginning with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, and ending with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garret mination, beginning with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, and ending with Lt. Gen. Michael X. Garret Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote. 2/28/19


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Last updated Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 12:15 PM Eastern Time . Updated at least twice daily, at 12:15 AM and 12:15 PM Eastern Time, using data from the U.S. Senate , the Federal Judicial Center , and the ProPublica Congress API .

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