Trump-47 Judicial Vacancies and Trump-47 Judicial Nominations (UPDATED)

By FEBRUARY 13, 2014, OBAMA-44 (starting on January 20, 2013) had 44 nominees to Article III judicial posts confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

By FEBRUARY 13, 2022, BIDEN-46 (starting January 20, 2021) had 46 nominees to Article III judicial posts confirmed by the U.S. Senate. 

By FEBRUARY 13, 2018, TRUMP-45 (starting January 20, 2017) had 24 nominees to Article III judicial posts confirmed by the U.S. Senate. This included one U.S. Supreme Court Justice. 

As of FEBRUARY 13, 2026, Trump-47 (starting January 20, 2025) has had 33 nominees to Article III judicial posts confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Apparently, no nominees have been selected for the Court of International Trade, or for any of the territorial district courts (US Virgin Islands vacancy), or for any of the major Article I/IV judicial posts.

SUMMARY: From inauguration (Jan. 20) through a year after inauguration and the following FEBRUARY 13: BIDEN-46 (46) > OBAMA-44 (44) >TRUMP-47 (33) > TRUMP-45 (24). TRUMP-47 is outpacing TRUMP-45, but TRUMP-47 is still well behind BIDEN-46. [33/46=72% or C-]

At the start of Trump-47, on January 20, 2025, there were 45 federal judicial vacancies—all were Article III vacancies.

There are now 43 federal judicial vacancies, including: 42 Article III positions, and one Article I/IV position (United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands).

There are 874 authorized Article III federal judicial positions (including the Court of International Trade, and including Article I/IV district courts in the territories), with 43 vacancies, amounting to a circa 5% vacancy rate. 

There is currently ONE vacancy across all federal appellate courts: an EIGHTH Circuit post. As of today, February 13, 2026, there is no nominee.

       February 13, 2026: Vacancies            Trump-47 Nominations*      Senate Confirmed

US Supreme Court --                    0                                     0                                         0

US Federal Circuit Courts --        1                                      0                                        6

US Federal District Courts --     40                                      4                                       27

US Court of Int’l Trade (Art III)  1                                      0                                         0

Article I Courts --                         1                                      0                                         0

Total --                                        43                                      4                                       33  

Vacancies include current and future vacancies as reported: current, <https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judicial-vacancies/current-judicial-vacancies>, and future <https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judicial-vacancies/future-judicial-vacancies>. 

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Trump-47 Judicial Vacancies and Trump-47 Judicial Nominations,’ New Reform Club (UPDATED from time to time) (Jan. 29, 2025, 3:14 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2025/01/trump-47-judicial-vacancies-and.html>; 

*“Nominations” refers to nominations awaiting Senate committee action or action before the full Senate. Posts listed in the “Senate Confirmed” column are not included among “Vacancies” or “Trump-47 Nominations”. Nominations which are announced to the public, but not yet submitted to the Senate are not included in the chart above.