Bench Memos

Law & the Courts

Seventh Circuit Summary

The Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin) has 11 active judgeships. All of them are filled.

Three longtime judges who were appointed by Republican presidents—Joel Flaum, Michael Kanne, and Ilana Rovner—declined to opt for senior status (or for retirement) during Donald Trump’s first term. By filling their seats (as well as two others), Joe Biden was able to transform the court from a 9-to-2 margin of Republican versus Democratic appointees (by party of appointing president, that is) to a razor-close 6-to-5 margin. (The 9-to-2 margin shouldn’t, however, be taken as having represented the ideological divide among the appointees.)


The only sitting judges eligible to take senior status are two Republican appointees. Frank Easterbrook has been senior-eligible for more than a decade. Diane Sykes recently became eligible. She is chief judge until year-end 2027 and is unlikely to go senior before then.

Four of Biden’s five appointees won’t be senior-eligible until 2040 or later. The exception is John Lee, who thanks to his previous service as a district judge will be eligible when he turns 65 in 2033.




In short, it is not foreseeable that Trump will be able to increase the number of conservative judges on the court.

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