Updated on June 11, 2021
In four years, Senate Republicans confirmed 231 Trump nominated federal judges.
The work starts now to bring balance and justice back to the federal bench by confirming President Biden’s progressive, diverse, qualified nominees.
President Biden needs to nominate and the Senate needs to confirm 232 federal judges the next four years to reverse right wing control of the federal courts. The President and the Senate must also act to reverse Republican-appointed majorities on powerful circuit courts of appeal.
The Committee for a Fair Judiciary is tracking the Senate’s progress to make sure senators are fulfilling their role in restoring balance to the federal courts. We follow:
Judicial vacancies in every state to track how senators are doing recommending and confirming judges
The confirmation of Biden appointed judges to see how the Administration and Senate’s progress stacks up against recent Presidents
The breakdown of appointees on each circuit court of appeal by party to measure the Senate’s progress in flipping control of the circuit courts.
The current political landscape presents a moment of opportunity to restore a progressive and representative judiciary. This is the moment when the work begins.
Judicial Vacancies
Filling judicial vacancies with President Biden's nominees is a key to combating the right’s court capture. The graphic below tracks the total number of current and future vacancies across the nation, broken down by the political party of each state's senators. This graphic will help us keep track of how well senators are doing recommending and confirming judicial nominees in each state.
108
TOTAL VACANCIES
92
DISTRICT COURT VACANCIES
16
CIRCUIT COURT VACANCIES
11
PENDING DISTRICT COURT NOMINATIONS
6
PENDING CIRCUIT COURT NOMINATIONS
First Term Judicial Confirmations by President
In President Trump’s first term, the Senate confirmed 231 judges, the most during the first term of any recent president. As a result, over 1 in 4 federal judges are Trump appointees. To restore balance, the Senate must match or exceed its pace in confirming Trump nominees.
Judicial Nominations Confirmed
Supreme Court
Circuit Court Breakdown by Party Control
Republican-appointed judges make up the majority on most powerful circuit courts of appeal. In order to reserve right-wing court capture, the Biden-Harris Administration and Democratic majority in the Senate must flip control of these circuit courts. The Committee for a Fair Judiciary will update this graphic to track how well the Administration and Democratic Senators are doing in filling critical vacancies and restoring balance on these circuit courts.
CIRCUIT 1: ME, MA, NH, RI, PR 2: NY, VT 3: DE, NJ, PA, USVI 4: MD, NC, SC, VA, WV 5: LA, MS, TX 6: KY, MI, OH, TN 7: IL, IN, WI 8: AR, IA, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD 9: AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GU, CNMI 10: CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY 11: AL, FL, GA