Judicial Vacancies in the United States
Judicial Vacancies during Obama’s first term as President
Vacancies in the federal judiciary mounted during Barack Obama’s first term as president. He finished with more vacancies (83) than he started with (57), which has not occurred since President Reagan’s first term. The unfilled positions have only added to towering caseloads and long waits for court dates in jurisdictions around the country. Although Obama was slower than his predecessors Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to submit nominees, filibusters and other gamesmanship in the Senate ground the confirmation process to a near halt. We review the first term as the Obama administration heads into its second, having recently renominated 33 judges whose confirmations had stalled (including 3 for district court openings in California).
Current and future Article III judicial vacancies
For example, in the United States, on 16 November 2015:
- US Court of Appeals: 9 Vacancies, 1Nominees Pending and 0 Nominees Pending for Future Vacancies
- US District Courts (includes territorial courts, Virgin Islands, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands, which are Article I judges with term appointments): 54 Vacancies, 23 Nominees Pending and 1 Nominees Pending for Future Vacancies
- US Court of International Trade: 4 Vacancies, 4 Nominees Pending and 0 Nominees Pending for Future Vacancies
- Total: 67 Vacancies, 28 Nominees Pending and 1 Nominees Pending for Future Vacancies.
Resources
See Also
- Judicial Appointments Commission in the United Kingdom, which provides independent selection of candidates for judicial offices. They offer information and describes its role, responsibilities, procedures and activities.
- Executive Appointment
- Circuit Judicial Council
- Judicial Branch Role
- District Court
- Judicial Ruling
- Judicial Conference Of The United States
- Territorial Court
- Judicial Branch Structure
- Judicial Appointments
- Interim Appointment