there are approximately federal district court judges in the united states
United States district court As of 2010, there were 678 authorized district court judgeships.[6] A study put forth by Brennan Center for Justice at New York University of Law found that under the Obama administration and especially in the year 2009 there have been a "uniquely high" number of vacancies in Federal Court, averaging 60 or more from the years 2009 to 2013. The Obama administration has blamed Senate Republicans for opposing (and therefore, not confirming) presidential nominations, while the Republicans say Obama has been slow to nominate.[7]
United States district court The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and many districts have more than one. The formal name of a district court is "the United States District Court for" the name of the districtâ€”for example, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
United States Congress The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the Federal government of the United States. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Precedent In the United States federal court system, the intermediate appellate courts are divided into thirteen "circuits," each covering some range of territory ranging in size from the District of Columbia alone up to seven states. Each panel of judges on the court of appeals for a circuit is bound to obey the prior appellate decisions of the same circuit.[citation needed] Precedent of a United States court of appeals may be overruled only by the court en banc, that is, a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit, or by the United States Supreme Court, not simply by a different three-judge panel.