During Senate debates over judicial nominations, differing perspectives have been expressed about the relative degree of success of a President's nominees in gaining Senate confirmation, compared with the nominees of other recent Presidents. Bush, and Obama presidencies, as well as during just the sixth year of each presidency; (2) by providing, for the same four Presidents, a comparison of the time from nomination to confirmation for circuit and district court nominees approved by the Senate during each President's first six years; and (3) by comparing the percentage of circuit and district court judgeships vacant at the beginning of each President's sixth and seventh years in office as well as the percentage of such vacancies considered "judicial emergencies." Bush's first six years were eventually confirmed later in his presidency, raising the number and percentage of nominees confirmed who were first nominated during his first six years to 55 and 80.9%, respectively. Bush nominated the fewest number of individuals during his first six years in office (234). President Reagan had the highest percentage of district court nominees confirmed by the end of his sixth year in office (97.4%), while President G.W. Bush had the lowest percentage of nominees confirmed by the end of his sixth year (86.8%). President Clinton had 90.2% confirmed, while President Obama had the second-highest percentage (92.6%) confirmed during the first six years of his presidency. The number of circuit court nominees confirmed during a sixth year ranged from a high of 13 during the Clinton presidency to a low of 9 during the G.W. U.S. District Court Nominees

			Number Confirmed

For district court nominees, the number of nominees confirmed during a sixth year ranged from a high of 77 during the Obama presidency to a low of 21 during the G.W. Bush's circuit court nominees who were confirmed during his first six years waited, on average, the longest period of time from first nomination to confirmation (366.7 days). In terms of the median number of days from nomination to confirmation, President Obama's circuit court nominees waited the longest period of time from nomination to confirmation (228 days), followed by President G.W. The district court nominees confirmed during President Clinton's first six years waited an average of 129.6 days while those confirmed during President Reagan's first six years waited 50.2 days. The median waiting times from nomination to confirmation for district court nominees ranged from a high of 214.5 days during President Obama's first six years to a low of 35 days during President Reagan's first six years. Compared to nominees confirmed during the three most recent two-term presidencies, the average number of days from nomination to confirmation for this group of nominees (167.0) was closest to the average waiting time for U.S. district court nominees approved by the Senate during the first six years of the G.W. Table 3 compares for the four Presidents: (1) the percentage of vacant U.S. circuit and district court judgeships on January 1 of a President's sixth year in office; (2) the percentage of vacant U.S. circuit and district court judgeships vacant on January 1 of a President's seventh year in office; and (3) the change in the percentage of vacant U.S. circuit and district court judgeships from January 1 of a President's sixth year to January 1 of his seventh year in office. Circuit Court Vacancies

 Table 3 shows that the percentage of circuit court judgeships that were vacant at the beginning of a President's sixth year in office was greatest during the Clinton and Obama presidencies (12.8% and 9.5%, respectively) while, at the beginning of a President's seventh year in office, the percentage of circuit court judgeships that were vacant was greatest during the Clinton and G.W. The percentage of vacant district court judgeships at the beginning of President Obama's seventh year in office, 4.9%, was the lowest percentage of vacant judgeships on January 1 of any of the Presidents' sixth or seventh years in office.
The selection and confirmation process for U.S. circuit and district court judges is of continuing interest to Congress. Recent Senate debates over judicial nominations have focused on issues such as the relative degree of success of President Barack Obama's nominees in gaining Senate confirmation compared with other recent Presidents, as well as the time from nomination to confirmation for nominees, and the relative prevalence of vacant judgeships compared to years past. This report addresses these issues, and others, by providing a statistical analysis of nominations to U.S. circuit and district court judgeships during the first six years of President Obama's time in office and that of his three most recent two-term predecessors, Presidents Reagan, Clinton and G.W. Bush. Some of the report's findings include the following:
During his first six years in office, President Obama nominated 61 persons to U.S. circuit court judgeships. Of the 61, 53 were also confirmed during this same six-year period. The 53 confirmed Obama circuit court nominees represented the second-highest number of nominees confirmed during recent Presidents' first six years. President Clinton had the lowest number at 50. The percentage of circuit court nominees confirmed during President Obama's first six years, 86.9%, was also the second-highest, while the percentage confirmed during President G.W. Bush's, 75.0%, was the lowest. Of the four Presidents, President Reagan had both the greatest number (66) and percentage (97.1%) of circuit court nominees confirmed within the first six years of his presidency. Of the 270 persons nominated by President Obama to U.S. district court judgeships during his first six years, 250 (92.6%) were confirmed. Of the four recent two-term Presidents analyzed here, this was the greatest number and second-greatest percentage of district court nominees confirmed. Of the comparison group, President Reagan had the greatest percentage of district court nominees confirmed (97.4%), while President G.W. Bush had the lowest percentage confirmed (86.8%). President Clinton had, during his first six years, 90.2% of his district court nominees confirmed. The average number of days elapsed from nomination to confirmation for circuit court nominees confirmed during a President's first six years ranged from a low of 55.8 days during the Reagan presidency to a high of 366.7 days during the G.W. Bush presidency. The median number of days from nomination to confirmation for circuit court nominees confirmed during a President's first six years ranged from a low of 37.0 days (Reagan) to a high of 228.0 (Obama). The average number of days elapsed from nomination to confirmation for district court nominees confirmed during a President's first six years ranged from a low of 50.2 days during the Reagan presidency to a high of 219.4 days during the Obama presidency. The median number of days from nomination to confirmation for district court nominees confirmed during a President's first six years ranged from a low of 35.0 days (Reagan) to a high of 214.5 (Obama). The percentage of circuit court judgeships vacant on January 1 of President Obama's seventh year in office was less than the percentage of such judgeships vacant on January 1 of his sixth year in office (3.9% and 9.5%, respectively). The percentage of circuit court judgeships vacant at the beginning of President Obama's seventh year in office was less than the percentage vacant at the beginning of the seventh year of the Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush presidencies. The percentage of district court judgeships vacant on January 1 of President Obama's seventh year in office was less than the percentage of such judgeships vacant on January 1 of his sixth year in office (4.9% and 11.1%, respectively). The percentage of district court judgeships vacant at the beginning of President Obama's seventh year in office was less than the percentage vacant at the beginning of the seventh year of the Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush presidencies.