Judicial Bench Index

Federal vacancy, nomination, and confirmation signals shaping the U.S. judicial bench, tracked as institutional pressure, not political theater.

How this works: This index reflects confirmed institutional activity and structural pressure, including federal vacancy counts and nomination actions. “Judicial Pressure,” “Backlog,” and “Pace” are modeled signals for analysis and do not predict votes, outcomes, or rulings.

Congress: 119.

Watch Last updated: 2026-04-06T17:07:18-04:00

Judicial Pressure Signal

Trend: Moving

Seats Filled

2026-03-17 Anna St. John, of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, vice Sarah S. Vance, retired.

2025-09-09 Maria A. Lanahan, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, vice Ronnie L. White, retired.

2025-07-23 Zachary M. Bluestone, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, vice John Andrew Ross, retired.

2025-07-22 Joshua M. Divine, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, vice Rodney W. Sippel, retired.

2025-07-22 Cristian M. Stevens, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, vice Audrey Goldstein Fleissig, retired.

2025-07-14 Whitney D. Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, vice Jane Branstetter Stranch, retiring.

2024-07-10 Charles J. Willoughby, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of fifteen years, vice William M. Jackson, retired.

Bench Heat Map

Modeled from active nomination pipeline (no external links).

Other

High

Active: 7 • Vote-ready: 0 • Avg: 35d

Western District of Texas

Elevated

Active: 2 • Vote-ready: 2 • Avg: 67d

Western District of Arkansas

Watch

Active: 1 • Vote-ready: 1 • Avg: 67d

Circuit 8

Watch

Active: 1 • Vote-ready: 0 • Avg: 35d

Judicial Pressure Elevated

Vacancy Pressure Low

Senate Backlog Elevated

Active Judicial Vacancies

Nominees Awaiting Vote

Avg Days Pending

Confirmation Pace (90D)

Recent Confirmations (30D): 4 Backlog Pressure: 100% Pipeline Trend: Moving

Key Nomination Events

Confirmed nominations detected in the last 30 days.

Activity Summary

Stage distribution (MVP inference)

Received 1

Referred 55

Hearing 8

Reported 1

Floor 70

Confirmed 103

Withdrawn 12

Disclaimer: This tracker is an independent editorial analysis by The Political Rift based on publicly available government data and institutional reporting, including Congress.gov nomination activity and federal judiciary vacancy reporting. It is provided for informational context only and does not constitute legal findings, official Senate outcomes, or adjudicative predictions.