Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for September 1, 2024

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

HIGHLIGHTS

• Vacancies: There have been two new judicial vacancies since the report published on August 1, 2024. There are 48 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions in courts covered in this report. Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 48 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
• Nominations: There have been three new nominations since the previous report.
• Confirmations: There have been no new confirmations since the previous report.

New vacancies

There were 48 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.5, which is the same vacancy percentage as August 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.
• 47 (6.9%) 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.

Two judges 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 Glenn Suddaby assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
• Judge Geoffrey Crawford assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.

U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies

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

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

The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during President Joe Biden’s (D) administration from January 20, 2021, to September 1, 2024.

New nominations

Biden has announced three new nominations since the previous report.

Since taking office in January 2021, Biden has nominated 251 individuals to Article III positions.

New confirmations

There have been no new confirmations since the previous report. As of September 1, 2024, the Senate has confirmed 205 of Biden’s judicial nominees—159 district court judges, 43 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and one Supreme Court justice—since January 2021.