Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for June 2024

In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from May 2, 2024, to June 1, 2024. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the May 2024 report. There are 44 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report. Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 45 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
• Nominations: There have been eight new nominations since the previous report.
• Confirmations: There have been seven new confirmations since the previous report.

New vacancies

There were 44 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.1, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than the vacancy percentage in May 2024.

• The nine-member U.S. Supreme Court does not have any vacancies.
• One (0.6%) of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.
• 41 (6.1%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.
• None of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.

A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges, who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, are appointed for life terms.

Since the May report, three judges have left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. As Article III judicial positions, these vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

• Judge Jon Levy assumed senior status on the United States District Court for the District of Maine
• Judge Gene Pratter left the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upon her death
• Judge Cormac Carney retired from the United States District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies

The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of June 1, 2024.

The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of June 1, 2024.

The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during the Biden administration from January 20, 2021, to June 1, 2024.

New nominations

President Joe Biden (D) has announced eight new nominations since the previousreport.

• Embry Kidd, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Adam Abelson, to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
• Joseph Saporito, to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Meredith Vacca, to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York
• Karla Campbell, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Julia Lipez, to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Catherine Henry, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Mary Kay Lanthier, to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont

Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has nominated 238 individuals to Article III positions.

New confirmations

Since the previous report, the U.S. Senate has confirmed seven of Biden’s nominees to Article III seats:

• Angela Martinez, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
• Dena Coggins, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• Seth Aframe,to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Krissa Lanham, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
• Camela Theeler, to the U.S. District Court for the District of South
• Sanket Bulsara, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Eric Schulte, to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota

As of June 1, 2024, the Senate has confirmed 201 of Biden’s judicial nominees—156 district court judges, 42 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice—since January 2021.