Judicial confirmations by voice vote, decade by decade
When did the Senate stop confirming judges by voice vote?
Voice votes fell below half of all Article III confirmations in the 2000s (43%) and are 2% of confirmations in the 2020s.
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.
| # | Name | Detail | Voice vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2020s | 6 by voice, 334 by roll call, of 340 confirmations | 2% |
| 2 | 2010s | 137 by voice, 368 by roll call, of 505 confirmations | 27% |
| 3 | 2000s | 165 by voice, 215 by roll call, of 380 confirmations | 43% |
| 4 | 1990s | 482 by voice, 40 by roll call, of 522 confirmations | 92% |
| 5 | 1980s | 456 by voice, 11 by roll call, of 467 confirmations | 98% |
| 6 | 1970s | 472 by voice, 9 by roll call, of 481 confirmations | 98% |
| 7 | 1960s | 355 by voice, 5 by roll call, of 360 confirmations | 99% |
| 8 | 1950s | 233 by voice, 3 by roll call, of 236 confirmations | 99% |
| 9 | 1940s | 174 by voice, 6 by roll call, of 180 confirmations | 97% |
| 10 | 1930s | 170 by voice, 4 by roll call, of 174 confirmations | 98% |
| 11 | 1920s | 150 by voice, 5 by roll call, of 155 confirmations | 97% |
| 12 | 1910s | 120 by voice, 3 by roll call, of 123 confirmations | 98% |
| 13 | 1900s | 104 by voice, 0 by roll call, of 104 confirmations | 100% |
| 14 | 1890s | 86 by voice, 5 by roll call, of 91 confirmations | 95% |
| 15 | 1880s | 39 by voice, 9 by roll call, of 48 confirmations | 81% |
| 16 | 1870s | 46 by voice, 6 by roll call, of 52 confirmations | 88% |
| 17 | 1860s | 57 by voice, 6 by roll call, of 63 confirmations | 90% |
| 18 | 1850s | 30 by voice, 3 by roll call, of 33 confirmations | 91% |
| 19 | 1840s | 25 by voice, 2 by roll call, of 27 confirmations | 93% |
| 20 | 1830s | 20 by voice, 6 by roll call, of 26 confirmations | 77% |
| 21 | 1820s | 28 by voice, 3 by roll call, of 31 confirmations | 90% |
| 22 | 1810s | 19 by voice, 0 by roll call, of 19 confirmations | 100% |
| 23 | 1800s | 15 by voice, 0 by roll call, of 15 confirmations | 100% |
| 24 | 1790s | 26 by voice, 1 by roll call, of 27 confirmations | 96% |
| 25 | 1780s | 15 by voice, 0 by roll call, of 15 confirmations | 100% |
Questions
- When did the Senate stop confirming judges by voice vote?
- Voice votes fell below half of all Article III confirmations in the 2000s (43%) and are 2% of confirmations in the 2020s.
- Which decade confirmed the most judges by voice vote?
- The 1900s, at 100% (104 by voice, 0 by roll call, of 104 confirmations).
- How is this list ranked?
- 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.
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Computed from the FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-09-21. Verify against the primary source before relying.