Article III, Section I, of the Constitution provides, in part, that the "judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." It further provides that Justices on the Supreme Court and judges on lower courts established by Congress under Article III have what effectively has come to mean life tenure, holding office "during good Behaviour." Along with the Supreme Court, the courts that constitute the Article III courts in the federal system are the U.S. circuit courts of appeals, the U.S. district courts, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. This report concerns nominations made by President Obama and other recent Presidents to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals and the U.S. district courts. Outside the report's scope are the occasional nominations that these Presidents made to the Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of International Trade. In recent Congresses, there has been ongoing interest in the process by which U.S. circuit and district court judges are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. 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. Additionally, Senate debate often has concerned the pace by which the Senate has considered or approved a President's judicial nominees. Of related concern to Congress has been the percentage of vacant judgeships in the federal judiciary and the effect of delays in the processing of judicial nominations on filling vacancies. In light of continued Senate interest in the judicial selection and confirmation process, this report seeks to inform Congress by (1) comparing the number and percentage of judicial nominees confirmed during the first five and a half years of the Obama presidency with the number and percentage of nominees confirmed during the same period of time during the G.W. Bush and Clinton presidencies; (2) comparing the pace of judicial confirmations during the Obama presidency as well as during the G.W. Bush and Clinton presidencies; and (3) providing statistics related to vacancies existing at the beginning of each President's second term and on June 30 of each President's sixth year in office. The period of time for each presidency analyzed in the report is from January 20 of a President's first year in office to June 30 of his sixth year in office. So, for example, the statistics reported below for President Obama reflect the period from January 20, 2009, to June 30, 2014. This includes the period following the Senate's reinterpretation, on November 21, 2013, of the application of Senate Rule XXII to floor consideration of some presidential nominations (including nominations to U.S. circuit and district court judgeships). Specifically, For nominations other than to the Supreme Court, the new precedent lowered the vote threshold by which cloture can be invoked—from three-fifths of the Senate to a simple majority of those voting, thereby enabling a supportive majority to reach an 'up-or-down' vote on confirming a nomination. The statistics reported below for the Obama presidency include all nominations and confirmations that occurred on or before June 30, 2014. Please note that the purpose of this midyear report is to provide an overview and analysis of the number and percentage of U.S. circuit and district court nominees confirmed as of June 30 of President Obama's sixth year in office (and how such statistics compare to the number and percentage of nominees confirmed during the G.W. Bush and Clinton presidencies), while also providing information related to the pace of Senate approval of judicial nominees as well as judicial vacancies. Consequently, this report does not include other statistics focused on specific stages of the appointment process, such as the length of time it has taken President Obama and his predecessors to nominate individuals to vacant circuit and district court judgeships, or how long it takes nominees to advance through the Senate confirmation process (e.g., the length of time from nomination to committee hearing or from committee report to final Senate action). Such statistics are analyzed in a longer end-of-year report that tracks the progress of a particular President's judicial nominees in receiving Senate confirmation. This section of the report compares, for Presidents Obama, G.W. Bush, and Clinton, the total number of U.S. circuit and district court nominees submitted to the Senate from January 20 of a President's first year in office to June 30 of his sixth year in office, as well as the number and percentage of circuit and district court nominees whose nominations were confirmed by the Senate during this same period. While Presidents sometimes nominate particular individuals to a court more than once, Table 1 counts such nominees only once. In other words, the analysis below does not account for multiple nominations of the same individual to the same court. Different institutional and political factors are responsible for variation across presidencies in the number and percentage of U.S. circuit and district court nominees confirmed by the Senate. Additionally, a judicial nomination may fail to receive Senate confirmation because (1) the full Senate votes against the nomination; (2) the President withdraws the nomination, either because the Senate Judiciary Committee (i) has voted against reporting it favorably, (ii) had made clear its intention not to act on the nomination, (iii) because the nomination, even if reported, is likely to face substantial opposition on the Senate floor, or (iv) the nominee himself or herself has requested that the nomination be withdrawn; or (3) the Senate, without confirming or rejecting the nomination, returns the nomination to the President under Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate after it has adjourned or been in recess for more than 30 days, and the President does not subsequently resubmit the nomination. This report does not analyze or take a position on the number or percentage of a President's judicial nominees that would be appropriate for the Senate to confirm. Table 1 reveals that, as of June 30 of his sixth year in office, President Obama had nominated the fewest number of individuals to U.S. circuit court judgeships but had both the greatest number and percentage of his U.S. circuit court nominees confirmed by the Senate. Of 59 nominees, 49 (or 83.1%) have, thus far, been confirmed. In contrast, President G.W. Bush had, by June 30 of his sixth year in office, nominated the greatest number of U.S. circuit court nominees (67) and also had the lowest percentage of nominees confirmed (68.7%). Additionally, President Clinton, by June 30 of his sixth year in office, had the lowest number of circuit court nominees confirmed (44). During President Obama's second term, as of June 30, the Senate has confirmed 19 circuit court nominees, representing 38.8% of the 49 nominees confirmed thus far during his presidency. In comparison, during President G.W. Bush's second term (as of June 30 of his sixth year in office), the Senate had confirmed 11 circuit court nominees, representing 23.9% of the 46 nominees that had been confirmed by that point during his presidency. During President Clinton's second term (as of June 30 of his sixth year in office), the Senate had confirmed 14 circuit court nominees, representing 31.8% of the 44 nominees that had been confirmed by that point during his presidency. Considering just the first half of a President's sixth year in office (from January 1 to June 30), President Obama has had 8 circuit court nominees confirmed, President G.W. Bush had 4 nominees confirmed, and President Clinton had 7 nominees confirmed. As of June 30, 2014, there are 4 circuit court nominations that are either before the Senate Judiciary Committee or pending on the Executive Calendar . If, at a minimum, these 4 nominations are approved by the Senate prior to December 31, 2014, President Obama will have had at least 12 circuit court nominees confirmed during his sixth year in office, increasing the total number of circuit court nominees confirmed during his entire six years in office to 53. During the second half of President G.W. Bush's sixth year in office (from July 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006), the Senate confirmed an additional 5 circuit court nominees, bringing the total number of nominees confirmed during his six years in office to 51. During the second half of President Clinton's sixth year in office (from July 1, 1998, to December 1, 1998), the Senate confirmed an additional 6 circuit court nominees, bringing the total number of nominees confirmed during his six years to 50. Table 1 shows that, as of June 30 of his sixth year in office, President Obama had nominated the second greatest number of individuals to U.S. district court judgeships and also had the second greatest number and percentage of his U.S. district court nominees confirmed by the Senate. Of 253 nominees, 219 (86.6%) have, thus far, been confirmed. President G.W. Bush had, by June 30 of his sixth year in office, nominated the fewest number of district court nominees (219) but had the highest percentage of nominees confirmed (91.3%). Additionally, President Clinton, by June 30 of his sixth year in office, had nominated the greatest number of district court nominees (267) and also had the greatest number confirmed (222). Note, however, that President Clinton also had the lowest percentage of his district court nominees confirmed by June 30 of his sixth year in office (83.1%). During President Obama's second term, as of June 30, the Senate has confirmed 78 district court nominees, representing 35.6% of the 219 nominees confirmed thus far during his presidency. In contrast, during President G.W.