The appointment of federal judges has become viewed as a political process in the last several decades. This is especially true of U.S. Supreme Court and court of appeals

United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...

 appointments. These charts show the composition of the Supreme and circuit court

Circuit court

Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...

s at the end of each four year presidential term, categorizing the judges by the presidential term during which they were nominated for their seat.

As of November 2011, most federal appeals courts still had a majority of Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 appointees, reflecting Republican dominance of the presidency in recent times; of the thirty years between 1979 and 2009, twenty have been spent under Republican presidents. Seven courts have a majority of Republican appointees (the Supreme Court and six circuit courts), five have a majority of Democratic appointees, and two have an equal number of appointees from each party. However, the party of the president who appointed a judge is not always a good indicator of that judge's judicial philosophy

Judicial philosophy

Judicial philosophy is the set of ideas and beliefs which dictate how Justices and judges of the United States federal courts may rule in many cases....

 and place on the political spectrum

Political spectrum

A political spectrum is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes symbolizing independent political dimensions....

.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 was established by the Constitution of the United States.
Originally, the Judiciary Act of 1789

Judiciary Act of 1789

The United States Judiciary Act of 1789 was a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the U.S. federal judiciary...

 set the number of Justices at six. Subsequently, the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 increased the number of Justices to seven in 1807, nine in 1837 and ten in 1863.
The Judiciary Act of 1869

Judiciary Act of 1869

The Judiciary Act of 1869 , also called the Circuit Judges Act of 1869, was a United States statute that made two important reforms of the federal judiciary....

 reduced the number of Justices to nine again

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2	DDE 1	HST 2	FDR /HST	FDR 3	FDR 2
current	9	5	4	-	2	2	-	-	2	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	9	7	2	-	-	2	-	-	2	2	2	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	9	8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	-	1	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	1	2	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
1984	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
1980	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
1976	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
1972	9	6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	1
1968	9	4	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	-	-	-	2
1964	9	4	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	3	1	-	-	2
1960	9	5	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	3	1	-	-	3
1956	9	3	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	1	-	4
1952	9	0	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	4
1948	9	0	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	5

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	FDR /HST	FDR 3	FDR 2	FDR 1	HCH	JCC	WGH /JCC	TWW 2	TWW 1	WHT
1948	9	0	9	-	2	2	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1944	9	2	7	-	-	2	5	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
1940	9	3	6	-	-	-	5	-	2	1	-	-	1	-
1936	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	2	-	2	1
1932	9	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	2	-	2	1

Courts of appeals

The United States Court of Appeals

United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...

 were established by the Judiciary Act of 1891

Judiciary Act of 1891

The Judiciary Act of 1891 , also known as the Evarts Act after its primary sponsor, Senator William M. Evarts, created the United States courts of appeals, and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts...

 as "United States circuit courts of appeals" (the name was changed to its current form in 1948). The act authorized 19 appellate judgeships in 9 circuits. Since then, the number of authorized judgeships has increased to 179.

Summary of 13 circuits combined

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2	DDE 1
current	179	86	78	15	24	24	30	27	21	13	11	7	6	1	-	-	-	-	-
2008*	178	100	66	12	-	24	32	33	26	21	15	7	7	1	-	-	-	-	-
2004	179	94	69	16	-	|-	35	34	26	29	20	8	9	1	1	-	-	-	-
2000	179	76	78	25	-	-	-	34	30	35	28	11	14	1	1	-	-	-	-
1996	179	105	54	20	-	-	-	-	30	40	45	14	22	3	2	1	1	-	1
1992	179	119	42	18	-	-	-	-	-	40	50	20	40	5	3	1	1	-	1
1988	168	96	62	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	50	26	53	9	10	8	1	-	1
1984	168	66	76	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	33	57	15	17	14	5	-	1
1980	140	50	86	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	59	16	30	19	8	2	2

• There were temporarily 178 existing appellate federal judgeships, due to the elimination of a 12th seat on the D.C. Circuit by Section 509. of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. The Act also provided for the creation of a 29th seat on the Ninth Circuit in January 2009 which increased the number of authorized appellate judgeships to 179 again.

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2	DDE 1
current	100%	48%	44%	8%	13%	13%	17%	15%	12%	7%	7%	4%	3%	1%	-	-	-	-	-
2008	100%	56%	37%	7%	-	13%	18%	19%	15%	12%	8%	4%	4%	1%	-	-	-	-	-
2004	100%	53%	39%	9%	-	-	20%	19%	15%	16%	11%	4%	5%	1%	1%	-	-	-	-
2000	100%	42%	44%	14%	-	-	-	19%	17%	20%	16%	6%	8%	1%	1%	-	-	-	-
1996	100%	59%	30%	11%	-	-	-	-	17%	22%	25%	8%	12%	2%	1%	1%	1%	-	1%
1992	100%	67%	23%	10%	-	-	-	-	-	22%	28%	11%	22%	3%	2%	1%	1%	-	1%
1988	100%	57%	37%	6%	-	-	-	-	-	-	30%	16%	32%	5%	6%	5%	1%	-	1%
1984	100%	39%	45%	16%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20%	34%	9%	10%	8%	3%	-	1%
1980	100%	36%	61%	3%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	42%	11%	21%	14%	6%	1%	1%

Partisan mix of the circuit courts

As of November 28, 2011

Appeals Court (in numerical order)	Percentage of occupied seats appointed by Republicans	Percentage of occupied seats appointed by Democrats	Republican/ Democrat/ Vacant	Percentage of total seats appointed by Republicans	Percentage of total seats appointed by Democrats	Percentage of total seats currently vacant
1st United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Maine* District of Massachusetts...	50%	50%	3 / 3 / 0	50%	50%	0%
2nd United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...	38%	62%	5 / 8 / 0	38%	62%	0%
3rd United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:* District of Delaware* District of New Jersey...	46%	54%	6 / 7 / 1	43%	50%	7%
4th United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...	36%	64%	5 / 9 / 1	33%	60%	7%
5th United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...	65%	35%	11 / 6 / 0	65%	35%	0%
6th United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...	63%	38%	10 / 6 / 0	63%	38%	0%
7th United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...	70%	30%	7 / 3 / 1	64%	27%	9%
8th United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...	82%	18%	9 / 2 / 0	82%	18%	0%
9th United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...	36%	64%	9 / 16 / 4	31%	55%	14%
10th United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...	60%	40%	6 / 4 / 2	50%	33%	17%
11th United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...	50%	50%	5 / 5 / 2	42%	42%	16%
DC	63%	38%	5 / 3 / 3	45%	27%	27%
Federal United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...	45%	55%	5 / 6 / 1	42%	50%	8%
Total of 13 circuits	52%	48%	86 / 78 / 15	48%	44%	8%

First Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Maine* District of Massachusetts...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ
current	6	3	3	-	1	-	1	1	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
2008	6	3	2	1	-	-	1	1	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
2004	6	4	2	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-
2000	6	4	2	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	1	1	-	-	-	-
1996	6	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	1	1	-	-	-	-
1992	6	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	1	1	-	-	-
1988	6	3	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	-	1	1
1984	6	2	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	1	1
1980	4	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	1

Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ
current	13	5	8	-	5	1	3	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	13	6	6	1	-	1	4	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	13	6	7	-	-	-	4	5	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	13	2	10	1	-	-	-	5	4	2	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
1996	13	5	6	2	-	-	-	-	4	3	1	1	2	-	-	-	-
1992	13	10	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	3	2	1	-	-	-
1988	13	9	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	2	1	1	1	-
1984	13	7	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	2	1	1	1
1980	11	6	4	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	4	1	1

Third Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:* District of Delaware* District of New Jersey...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ
current	14	6	7	1	2	3	2	3	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-
2008	14	6	6	2	-	3	2	4	1	-	1	-	1	-	-	-
2004	14	7	6	1	-	-	4	4	1	2	1	-	1	-	-	-
2000	14	6	6	2	-	-	-	4	1	2	3	1	1	-	-	-
1996	14	11	2	1	-	-	-	-	1	3	7	1	1	-	-	-
1992	14	11	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	3	7	1	1	-	-	-
1988	12	9	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	1	2	-	1	1
1984	12	6	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	4	2
1980	10	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	5	2

Fourth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2
current	15	5	9	1	5	1	2	3	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	15	6	5	4	-	1	2	3	2	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	15	8	5	2	-	-	2	3	2	3	1	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
2000	15	6	5	4	-	-	-	3	2	3	1	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
1996	15	9	4	2	-	-	-	-	2	4	1	1	2	1	2	-	-	-
1992	15	9	3	3	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	1	3	1	2	-	-	-
1988	11	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	4	1	2	1	-	-
1984	11	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	1	2	1	-	-
1980	10	4	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	2	2	-	1

Fifth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2	DDE 1
current	17	11	6	-	2	4	2	-	3	1	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	17	13	4	-	-	4	2	-	3	3	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	17	11	4	2	-	-	2	-	3	4	2	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	17	9	5	3	-	-	-	-	4	4	2	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	17	11	6	-	-	-	-	-	4	4	3	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	17	11	2	4	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	16	9	6	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	6	1	1	-	-	-	-
1984	16	7	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	7	1	1	-	-	-	-
1980	14	3	10	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	1	1	2	-	-	1

Note: The 5th Circuit judges who were transferred to the 11th Circuit in 1981 are not included in the 5th Circuit numbers for 1980.

Sixth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2
current	16	10	6	-	2	4	4	1	2	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
2008	16	10	6	-	-	4	4	2	3	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
2004	16	6	6	4	-	-	4	2	3	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
2000	16	5	7	4	-	-	-	2	3	3	2	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
1996	16	7	6	3	-	-	-	-	3	3	4	-	3	-	-	-	-	-
1992	16	9	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	3	5	1	5	-	-	-	-	-
1988	16	10	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	5	1	1	-	-	-
1984	16	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	5	1	1	-	1	-
1980	11	3	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	1	1	1	1	1

Seventh Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ
current	11	7	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	-	-	-	-	-
2008	11	7	3	1	-	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	-	-	-	-	-
2004	11	8	3	-	-	-	1	1	2	1	4	2	-	-	-	-	-
2000	11	8	3	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	4	3	-	-	-	-	-
1996	11	8	3	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	4	3	-	-	-	1	-
1992	11	9	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	3	1	1	-	1	-
1988	11	9	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	1	2	-	1	-
1984	11	6	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	2	-	1	-
1980	9	4	4	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	1

Eighth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ
current	11	9	2	-	-	1	6	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
2008	11	9	2	-	-	1	6	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
2004	11	9	2	-	-	-	6	1	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
2000	11	6	4	1	-	-	-	1	1	3	2	1	2	-	-	-
1996	11	8	3	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	3	2	2	-	-	-
1992	11	9	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	3	2	-	-	-
1988	10	6	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	2	-	-	1
1984	10	4	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2	-	1	3
1980	9	3	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	2	3

Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ
current	29	9	16	4	1	3	4	11	1	-	2	-	3	-	-	-	-
2008	28	11	16	1	-	3	4	11	2	2	2	-	3	-	-	-	-
2004	28	8	16	4	-	-	4	11	2	2	2	-	3	-	-	-	-
2000	28	7	18	3	-	-	-	11	3	4	3	-	4	-	-	-	-
1996	28	10	10	8	-	-	-	-	3	4	6	-	6	-	-	-	1
1992	28	14	13	1	-	-	-	-	-	4	7	2	12	-	1	-	1
1988	28	11	14	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	2	13	-	2	-	1
1984	28	8	16	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	15	3	2	-	1
1980	23	7	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	3	4	-	1

Note: SEC. 509. of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 provided for the creation of a 29th seat on the Ninth Circuit in January 2009.

Tenth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ
current	12	6	4	2	1	2	3	-	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	12	8	4	-	-	2	4	-	4	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	12	7	5	-	-	-	4	-	4	1	2	-	1	-	-	-	-
2000	12	5	5	2	-	-	-	-	4	1	4	-	1	-	-	-	-
1996	12	7	5	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	6	-	1	-	-	-	-
1992	12	7	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	1	6	-	3	-	-	-	-
1988	10	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	3	-	-	1	-
1984	10	1	4	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	1	1	-
1980	8	3	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	3	1	1

Eleventh Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ
current	12	5	5	2	1	-	1	3	1	2	1	-	-	1	-	-
2008	12	7	5	-	-	-	1	3	1	4	1	-	1	1	-	-
2004	12	7	5	-	-	-	1	3	1	4	1	-	1	1	-	-
2000	12	6	5	1	-	-	-	3	1	4	1	-	1	1	-	-
1996	12	8	2	2	-	-	-	-	1	4	2	-	1	2	-	-
1992	12	8	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	-	3	2	-	-
1988	12	6	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	6	3	1	-
1984	12	4	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	3	1	1
1980	12	4	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	3	1	1

Note: In 1980, the 11th Circuit had not yet been created, but the judges that were later transferred to the 11th Circuit from the 5th Circuit are shown here.

DC Circuit

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ
current	11	5	3	3	-	3	-	-	3	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008*	11	6	3	2	-	3	-	-	3	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	12	5	4	3	-	-	1	-	3	2	2	-	1	-	-	-	-
2000	12	5	4	3	-	-	-	-	3	2	3	-	1	-	-	-	-
1996	12	6	5	1	-	-	-	-	3	2	4	-	2	-	-	-	-
1992	12	7	4	1	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	-	4	-	-	-	-
1988	12	6	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	1	4	-	-	1	-
1984	12	3	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	4	-	-	2	1
1980	11	3	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	3	2	2

• SEC. 509. of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 eliminated the 12th seat on the D.C. Circuit.

Federal Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...

Year	Total	Appointed by Republicans	Appointed by Democrats	Vacant	BHO	GWB 2	GWB 1	WJC 2	WJC 1	GHWB	RWR 2	RWR 1	JEC	RMN /GRF	RMN 1	LBJ	JFK /LBJ	DDE 2
current	12	5	6	1	3	1	1	2	1	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	12	8	4	-	-	1	1	3	1	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	12	8	4	-	-	-	1	3	1	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	12	7	4	1	-	-	-	3	1	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	12	10	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	5	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
1992	12	10	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	1	1	-	-	-	-	1
1988	12	7	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2	3	-	1	-	-	1
1984	12	7	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	3	1	3	1	1	1
1980	11	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	4	1	1	1

Note: The Federal Circuit was created in 1982. The judges that sat on the courts that were combined into the Federal Circuit are shown in 1980 for trend comparison purposes.

Acronym key

Acronym	President	Term	Date range
BHO	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...	n/a	January 20, 2009 – present
GWB 2	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....	second	January 20, 2005 – January 20, 2009
GWB 1	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....	first	January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2005
WJC 2	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...	second	January 20, 1997 – January 20, 2001
WJC 1	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...	first	January 20, 1993 – January 20, 1997
GHWB	George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...	only	January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
RWR 2	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....	second	January 20, 1985 – January 20, 1989
RWR 1	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....	first	January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1985
JEC	Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...	only	January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
RMN/GRF	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...  and Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...	split	January 20, 1973 – January 20, 1977
RMN 1	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...	first	January 20, 1969 – January 20, 1973
LBJ	Lyndon Johnson	second	January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969
JFK/LBJ	John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....  and Lyndon Johnson	split	January 20, 1961 – January 20, 1965
DDE 2	Dwight Eisenhower	second	January 20, 1957 – January 20, 1961
DDE 1	Dwight Eisenhower	first	January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1957
HST 2	Harry Truman	second	January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953
FDR/HST	Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman	split	January 20, 1945 – January 20, 1949
FDR 3	Franklin Roosevelt	third	January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945
FDR 2	Franklin Roosevelt	second	January 20, 1937 – January 20, 1941
FDR 1	Franklin Roosevelt	first	March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1937
HCH	Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...	only	March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933
JCC	Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...	second	March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929
WGH/JCC	Warren G. Harding Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...  and Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...	split	March 4, 1921 – March 4, 1925
TWW 2	Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...	second	March 4, 1917 – March 4, 1921
TWW 1	Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...	first	March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1917
WHT	William Howard Taft William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...	only	March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913

See also

• United States federal judge
  United States federal judge
  In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
  
  

External links

• Ideological Voting on Federal Courts of Appeals
• Summary of Judicial Vacancies