Who’s the Chief? A Guide to Every Chief Judge
“A chief justice’s authority is really quite limited, and the dynamic among all the justices is going to affect whether he can accomplish much or not…a chief justice has the same vote that everyone else has,” is what Chief Justice John Roberts described his role in an interview in 2007. The Chief Justice and chief judges have many administrative responsibilities in their respective courts. With this in mind, they are only worth one vote in any case they are a part of. This article will focus on these positions and their importance to the courts. First, we will discuss circuit and district chief judges, and then the Chief Justice. Below, you can see the current chief judge and chief justice of every federal court in the United States as of June 1st, 2026.
Who’s the Chief? Every Federal Chief Judge
Circuit and District Chief Judges
Attainment
Under U.S Code (28 U.S. Code § 45 for circuit and 28 U.S. Code § 136 for district), circuit and district chief judges are chosen according to “seniority of commission”, which is who has served on the particular court the longest. To be eligible, a judge must be 64 years old or younger, have been a judge on the court for longer than a year, and have not previously served as a chief judge (28 U.S. Code § 45(a)(1) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(1)). If no judge on the court meets this criterion, the youngest judge who is 65 or older and has served as a judge for at least a year would “act” as chief (28 U.S.C. § 45(a)(2)(A) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(2)(A)). If no judge meets this, the judge senior in commission and has not served as chief would hold the position as acting chief (28 U.S.C. § 45(a)(2)(B) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(2)(B)). U.S Code points out that no judge can continue serving or acting as chief judge after becoming 70 unless no other judge is eligible to become chief (28 U.S.C. § 45(a)(3)(C) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(3)(C)).
As for the term, if the judge is eligible under (1), the judge will serve for 7 years. If, after 7 years, no other judge is eligible under the same paragraph, the current chief will serve until there is one (28 U.S.C. § 45(a)(3)(A) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(3)(A)). If a judge is only eligible under (2)(A) or (2)(B), they will only act until a judge qualifies under (1), according to 28 U.S.C. § 45(a)(3)(B) and 28 U.S. Code § 136(a)(3)(B).
Administrative Duty
Under subsection (b), the chief judges on the circuit and district courts “shall have precedence and preside at any session of the court which he attends.” The chief judge of a court serves as the face of the court internally and externally. They also have administrative duties like managing the court’s docket, overseeing court operations, and supervising court personnel.
Under 28 U.S. Code § 2284, a chief judge of a circuit court shall designate 2 other judges for a three-judge panel when requested. One of these 2 is required to be a circuit judge. If so desired, the chief judge can appoint themself to the panel. A panel is requested, for example, when a party challenges the constitutionality of the apportionment of a state’s congressional map or statewide legislative body.
A chief judge of a circuit court may, in the “public interest”, assign temporarily any circuit judge within the circuit to act as a district judge under 28 U.S. Code § 291 (b). A circuit justice may do so as well.
If a chief judge wishes to be removed from the office but remain in active service, they can certify to the Chief Justice. Another judge will take their place according to the procedure above (subsection (c)). Another judge will also take their place in the event they are “temporarily unable” to perform as chief judge (subsection (d)).
Composition
Of the 109 district and circuit courts, 50 chief judges are Republican appointees. Of the 50, a little more than half (27) are Trump appointees. The remaining 23 have been appointed by GWB. On the other hand, 59 chief judges have been appointed by a Democratic president, with 54 Obama appointees, 4 Biden appointees, and 1 Clinton appointee.
By age, the average and median age of a chief judge is 61. Breaking it down by court type, the average age for a district chief judge is about 61 years old, and about 63 for a circuit chief judge. For district courts, the median age is 61, with the circuit courts being 64. The youngest chief judge is a tie between Allen Winsor (Northern District of Florida) and R. Stan Baker (Southern District of Georgia) at 49 years old. On the other hand, the oldest is a 3-way tie between Sharon L. Gleason (District of Alaska), Richard Seeborg (Northern District of California), and Robert F. Rossiter Jr. (District of Nebraska) at 69 years old.
On average, the median chief judge has about 10 years of experience as a judge on the court before becoming a chief. This is true for district courts, but for circuit courts, it goes up to about 14 years.
Chief Justice of the United States
Attainment
The process of attaining the position of Chief Justice is the same for any Associate Justice: appointment. The President would nominate someone for the position, and the Senate would confirm if they viewed the nominee favorably. The President could also nominate an existing Justice for the role. This would create a vacancy for which the President can appoint an Associate Justice. The process of judicial appointments will be discussed in a future article.
Administrative Duty
The position of Chief Justice is only mentioned once in the Constitution: in Article I, Section 3, which states that the Chief Justice shall preside in an impeachment trial of the President. This shall happen to be one of the key duties of the position. Like chief judges of the lower courts, the Chief Justice is the face and spokesperson of the court, but they are also that of the entire judicial branch.
Similarly, they also oversee the operations and administrative duties of the courts, including the Supreme Court. They preside at private conferences and public sessions. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S. Code § 1803), the Chief also appoints federal judges to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. They can also temporarily designate and assign “any circuit judge to act as a circuit judge in another circuit upon request by the chief judge or circuit justice of such circuit” according to 28 U.S. Code § 291(a). They may also assign a retired justice to perform duties to any circuit. Traditionally (i.e., not required), the Chief Justice has administered the oath of office to a newly elected president.
Composition
The current Chief Justice of the United States is John Roberts. Roberts, 71 years old, was appointed by GWB in 2005.
