United States federal judge

In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, circuit judges of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, district judges of the U.S. District Courts, and judges of the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Federal judges are not elected officials, unlike the president, vice president, U.S. senators, and U.S. representatives. They are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Constitution gives federal judges life tenure, and they hold their seats until they die, resign, or are removed from office through impeachment.

Although they are sometimes called "federal judges", the term technically does not extend to U.S. magistrate judges or the judges of lesser federal tribunals such as the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, and other "Article One tribunals". These judges do not have life tenure, and their authority derives from Congress via Article One of the Constitution, not independently via Article Three. These judges are often known as "Article One judges".

However, the term is not applied to the administrative law judges of federal government agencies located within the executive branch.