Every ranking is computed transparently from the records, links to each judge, court, school, and appointing president it names, and shows its method. More unlock as the federal bench grows.
The Supreme Court confirmations that came closest to an even Senate split, ranked by the share of the recorded roll-call that voted to confirm rather than the raw margin, so a lopsided tally in a smaller historic Senate does not read as close. Voice votes with no recorded tally are excluded.
Currently serving Article III judges (active or on senior status: senior judges still hear cases), ranked by age. Ages are computed from birth year, so they are approximate to the year.
Currently serving Article III judges ranked by years since their first federal commission (active or on senior status: senior judges still hear cases).
Ranked by total Article III appointments on the complete federal record: the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals, the District Courts, and the specialized courts. Each president links to everyone they appointed.
Every Article III confirmation with a recorded roll call, ranked by the share of that roll call voting to confirm rather than the raw margin, so a narrow tally in a smaller historic Senate does not read as close. Voice votes have no recorded tally and are excluded.
Article III nominees ranked by the days between the president nominating them and the Senate confirming them. Nominations that were never confirmed are not on the clock and are not listed.
U.S. district courts ranked by how many judges in active service were appointed by a Republican president. The letter is the appointing president’s party, never the judge’s own, and senior judges are excluded because they no longer carry a full docket.
U.S. district courts ranked by how many judges in active service were appointed by a Democratic president. The letter is the appointing president’s party, never the judge’s own, and senior judges are excluded because they no longer carry a full docket.
U.S. district courts with at least four judges in active service, ranked by how close the appointing-party split is to even. Ties break toward the larger court.
Judges who were first commissioned to a U.S. district court and later to a U.S. court of appeals, most recently elevated first, with the years they spent on the district bench first.
Senators ranked by the number of recorded roll-call votes cast against confirming a judicial nominee. A vote against a nominee is a vote on that nomination, never a statement about the nominee.
Senators ranked by the number of recorded roll-call votes cast to confirm a judicial nominee. Long service and an era of roll-call votes both push a senator up this list.
Where the judges serving on the federal bench today went to law school, ranked by count. The all-time version of this list covers every judge on record, federal and state; this one is the bench as it stands.
States and territories ranked by the number of Article III judges serving today on a federal court seated there, active and senior. A circuit is counted in each state it covers.
The share of Article III confirmations decided by voice vote rather than a recorded roll call, by decade of confirmation. A voice vote leaves no senator-by-senator tally, so it is also the share of the bench whose confirmation cannot be attributed to individual senators.
Federal courts ranked by how many of their sitting judges have taken senior status. Senior judges remain members of the court and continue to hear cases, usually with a reduced docket.