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Article III judges
Supreme Court justices, and the judges of the courts of appeals, the district courts and the Court of International Trade, are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They hold office “during good Behaviour”: in effect for life, unless they resign, retire, or are impeached and removed. Their pay cannot be cut while they serve (Article III, Section 1).
A judge who meets the law's test of age and years of service may take senior status: the judge keeps the office and hears a reduced caseload, and the seat can be filled by a new appointment (28 U.S.C. 371).
See it on this site: Find a federal judge
Sources: U.S. Constitution, Article III; 28 U.S.C. 371 (senior status); U.S. Courts: Court Role and Structure
The Supreme Court
The Court has nine members, the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices. The number is set by law (28 U.S.C. 1), not by the Constitution. A few cases, such as disputes between states, can begin there (Article III, Section 2). Nearly all the rest come from the federal courts of appeals and from state supreme courts on questions of federal law, and the Court chooses which to hear by granting a petition for a writ of certiorari.
The Chief Justice presides over the Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets policy for the federal courts, and chairs the board of the Federal Judicial Center, their research and education agency (28 U.S.C. 331, 621). When a president is tried on impeachment, the Chief Justice presides in the Senate (Article I, Section 3).
The justices sitting now
See it on this site: The justices · The Court's page
Sources: U.S. Constitution, Article III; U.S. Constitution, Article I; 28 U.S.C. 1 (the Supreme Court); 28 U.S.C. 331 (Judicial Conference); 28 U.S.C. 621 (Federal Judicial Center)
The courts of appeals
There are 13 courts of appeals. Eleven numbered circuits and the D.C. Circuit each hear appeals from the district courts in their region. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears appeals from across the country in particular kinds of case, such as patents, international trade and claims for money against the United States (28 U.S.C. 41, 1295). Congress has authorized 179 judgeships on the courts of appeals: 167 on the regional circuits and 12 on the Federal Circuit.
Appeals are usually decided by panels of three judges. A court may rehear a case en banc, with all its active judges, or in the Ninth Circuit a panel of eleven. Each circuit's chief judge is chosen by seniority: the longest-serving active judge who is 64 or younger, has served at least a year and has not been chief judge before (28 U.S.C. 45).
See it on this site: Every court of appeals and its judges
Sources: 28 U.S.C. 41 (the circuits); 28 U.S.C. 1295 (Federal Circuit); 28 U.S.C. 45 (chief judges of the circuits); U.S. Courts: Court Role and Structure; U.S. Courts: Authorized Judgeships, 1789 to present
District courts and other trial courts
The district courts are the federal trial courts. There are 94: 89 in the 50 states, one each for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and three territorial courts, for Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose judges serve ten-year terms. Every state has at least one. Congress has authorized 673 district judgeships, and 4 more in the territorial courts.
The Court of International Trade, in New York, hears civil cases about tariffs, customs and trade laws from anywhere in the country (28 U.S.C. 251).
- Magistrate judges
- Appointed by each district court's judges, for eight years if full-time and four if part-time (28 U.S.C. 631). They handle warrants, first appearances, bail and pretrial matters. They can try petty offenses (the least serious federal crimes, punishable by no more than six months in prison: 18 U.S.C. 19), other misdemeanors if the defendant agrees, and civil cases if the parties agree (18 U.S.C. 3401; 28 U.S.C. 636).
- Bankruptcy judges
- The 90 bankruptcy courts are units of the district courts (28 U.S.C. 151). Their judges are appointed by the court of appeals for the circuit to 14-year terms (28 U.S.C. 152).
See it on this site: Every district court and its judges
Sources: U.S. Courts: Court Role and Structure; U.S. Courts: Authorized Judgeships, 1789 to present; 28 U.S.C. 251 (Court of International Trade); 28 U.S.C. 631 (magistrate judges); 28 U.S.C. 636 (magistrate judges: jurisdiction); 18 U.S.C. 3401 (misdemeanors tried by magistrate judges); 18 U.S.C. 19 (petty offense defined); 28 U.S.C. 151 (bankruptcy courts); 28 U.S.C. 152 (bankruptcy judges)
Courts outside Article III
Under its other powers, Congress has created courts whose judges serve fixed terms, without Article III's protections:
- U.S. Tax Court
- Nineteen judges, appointed by the president with the Senate's consent to 15-year terms. Taxpayers can dispute a tax deficiency, more tax than they reported that the IRS says they owe, there before paying it (26 U.S.C. 7443).
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- Sixteen judges with 15-year terms. Hears claims for money against the United States, challenges to federal contract awards, and vaccine-injury petitions (28 U.S.C. 171).
- U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
- Reviews decisions of the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The law provides for up to seven permanent judges, each with a 15-year term (38 U.S.C. 7253).
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
- Five civilian judges with 15-year terms. The highest court for courts-martial below the Supreme Court (10 U.S.C. 942).
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
- Eleven district judges, designated by the Chief Justice for terms of up to seven years, decide the government's applications for surveillance and searches for foreign intelligence. A Court of Review of three judges hears appeals (50 U.S.C. 1803).
- Territorial courts
- The district courts of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands were created under Congress's power over the territories (Article IV), not Article III, so their judges serve ten-year terms.
- Administrative law judges
- Officers inside agencies such as the Social Security Administration, the National Labor Relations Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission, who hold hearings and decide cases under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 3105). Their decisions can generally be appealed within the agency and then to a court.
When the Supreme Court held in 2026 that Federal Trade Commissioners cannot be protected from removal by the president, it left open whether Congress may protect the judges of courts like these (removal protection).
Sources: 26 U.S.C. 7443 (Tax Court); 28 U.S.C. 171 (Court of Federal Claims); 38 U.S.C. 7253 (Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims); 10 U.S.C. 942 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces); 50 U.S.C. 1803 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court); U.S. Constitution, Article IV; 5 U.S.C. 3105 (administrative law judges); U.S. Courts: Court Role and Structure; Trump v. Slaughter, 609 U.S. 422 (2026)