Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts

[4] As of January 02, 2025, of the 679 district court judges, 384 were appointed by Democratic presidents compared to 257 by Republican ones.

[7] Federal judges often strategically time their retirement so as to give the president of the same party that first appointed them an opportunity to nominate the successor.

However, as the nation's boundaries grew across the continent and as Supreme Court justices in those days had to ride the circuit, an arduous process requiring long travel on horseback or carriage over harsh terrain that resulted in months-long extended stays away from home, Congress added justices to correspond with the growth: seven in 1807, nine in 1837, and ten in 1863.

[12][13] The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 then set the number to gradually be reduced to seven through the retirement or death of current associate justices.

Judge Brian Wimes (Obama appointee) also currently serves in both the Eastern & Western Districts of Missouri.