A Year in Review: What 108 Judicial Appointments Mean in Terms of Vacancies

In 2019, President Donald Trump appointed 108 federal judges to the bench.

Thomas Jipping has a post at Bench Memos providing a perspective regarding the opposition many Trump judicial nominees have faced, but I thought I'd analyze this from another angle.

To begin with, the breakdown:

• 20 circuit judges (with life tenure)
• 80 district judges (with life tenure)
• 2 judges to the Court of International Trade (with life tenure)
• 3 judges to the Court of Federal Claims (an Article I court with 15-year terms)
• 2 judges to the Tax Court (an Article I court with 15-year terms)
• 1 judge to the Court of Military Commission Review (an Article I court)

As Jipping noted, this is the second most federal judges appointed in a single calendar year (2019 is runner-up to 1979 in this context, when Jimmy Carter appointed 135 Article III judges in the wake of Congress adding more than 100 judgeships to the bench in 1978). Trump appointed more judges in 2019 than in 2017 and 2018 combined. This, coupled with the rate of judges taking senior status remaining roughly constant, means that the Article III courts have fewer vacancies now than at any other time during Trump's term in office.

On January 1, 2019, there were 133 vacancies on the Article III courts:

• Courts of Appeals – 12
• District Courts – 119
• Court of International Trade – 2

On December 31, 2019, there will be 71 (- 62) vacancies on the Article III courts:

• Courts of Appeals – 1 (- 11)
• District Courts – 68 (- 51)
• Court of International Trade – 2 (± 0)

Five circuits and their encompassed lower courts (D.C., Federal, 1st, 4th, and 8th) now have no emergencies, as compared to just the D.C. and Federal Circuits on January 1, 2019. There are as many vacancies now as when Trump took office in January 2017.

On January 1, 2019, there were 66 judicial emergencies:

• Blue states (2 Democratic senators) – 33
• Purple states (1 Democratic, 1 Republican senator) – 5
• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 27
• N/A (no senators) – 1

On December 31, 2019, there will be 42 (- 24) judicial emergencies:

• Blue states (2 Democratic senators) – 34 (+ 1)
• Purple states (1 Democratic, 1 Republican senator) – 2 (- 3)
• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 6 (- 21)

Trump, in conjunction with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has brought the number of vacancies on the federal courts of appeals down to the lowest level since at least 1984. The Trump administration made efforts to fill every vacancy that arose, as the new treatment of blue slips ensured that most nominees could be confirmed by the Senate, regardless of home state senators' support.

On January 1, 2019, there were 12 vacancies on the U.S. Courts of Appeals:

• Blue states (2 Democratic senators) – 8
• Purple states (1 Democratic, 1 Republican senator) – 2
• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 1
• N/A (no senators) – 1

On December 31, 2019, there will be one (- 11) vacancy on the U.S. Courts of Appeals:

• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 1 (± 0)

With 50 total appointments, Trump's appointees fill 29.9% of the regional circuit court judgeships and 27.9% of all circuit court judgeships.

While Trump has not reduced the number of district court vacancies to a comparably low figure, there are currently the fewest number of openings on the district courts since he took office. He made significant headway at eliminating red state vacancies, while making more modest cuts at purple and blue state vacancy figures.

On January 1, 2019, there were 119 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts:

• Blue states (2 Democratic senators) – 50
• Purple states (1 Democratic, 1 Republican senator) – 21
• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 45
• N/A (no senators) – 3

On December 31, 2019, there will be 68 (- 51) vacancies on the U.S. District Courts:

• Blue states (2 Democratic senators) – 48 (- 2)
• Purple states (1 Democratic, 1 Republican senator) – 10 (- 11)
• Red states (2 Republican senators) – 9 (- 36)
• N/A (no senators) – 1 (- 2)

With 133 total appointments, and two subsequent elevations to circuit courts, Trump's appointees fill 19.4% of all district court judgeships.

While he didn't change the overall number of vacancies on the Court of International Trade, with two appointments, Trump's appointees fill 22.2% of its judgeships.²

In sum, Trump's appointees fill 185/874 Article III judgeships, so roughly 21.2% of seats on the federal judiciary are now filled by his appointees. There are far fewer vacancies in red state federal courts than at the start of the year, reflecting the cooperation of Republican senators with the White House. Not as much progress was made in blue states, due to negotiations breaking down between the administration and Democratic senators, and senators still being able to wield the blue slip.

Other notes:

As of January 1, 2019, Trump had appointed district judges in 34 of the 89 districts, in 23 states.
As of December 31, 2019, Trump will have appointed district judges in 59 of the 89 districts, in 39 states.

Every active judge on the Middle District of Alabama and District of North Dakota benches is now a Trump appointee, as the president appointed 2 to each court this year (he also appointed one to the Middle District last year).

Trump reduced the number of vacancies on the Court of Federal Claims from 11 to eight over the course of 2019, meaning half of the court's 16 judgeships are now filled, and his appointees fill 18.8% of its judgeships.

¹I used the composition of the Senate for the 116th Congress for both the January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 dates, to avoid considering how seats flipping changed the vacancy calculus.

²Due to statutory requirements, Trump appointed one Democrat to the Court of International Trade, and this number is not of much significance.