Editing United States federal judge (section)

==Number of judges==
{{asof|2018}}, there were [https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies 890 authorized Article III judgeships]: nine on the Supreme Court, 179 on the courts of appeals, 677 for the US District Courts (includes territorial courts), 16 on the US Court of Federal Claims* and nine on the [[United States Court of International Trade|Court of International Trade]].<ref>{{cite report |title=Authorized Judgeships |url=http://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/allauth.pdf |publisher=Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts |page=8 |access-date=2018-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/authorized-judgeships/chronological-history-authorized-judgeships-courts-appeals |title=Chronological History of Authorized Judgeships – Courts of Appeals |website=United States Courts |publisher=Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts |access-date=2018-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/authorized-judgeships/chronological-history-authorized-judgeships-district-courts |title=Chronological History of Authorized Judgeships – District Courts |website=United States Courts |publisher=Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts |access-date=2018-09-16}}</ref>

The total number of active federal judges is constantly in flux, for two reasons. First, judges retire or die, and a lapse of time occurs before new judges are appointed to fill those positions. Second, from time to time Congress will increase (or, less frequently, decrease) the number of federal judgeships in a particular judicial district, usually in response to shifting population numbers or a changing workload in that district. Although the number of Supreme Court justices has remained the same for well over a century, the number of court of appeals judges has more than doubled since 1950, and the number of district court judges has increased more than three-fold in that period.<ref name=fjc>[http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf Federal Judicial Center].</ref> In addition, some district court judges serve on more than one court at a time.