Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution creates the federal judiciary. In one sentence, it puts all federal judicial power in the courts, requires that one Supreme Court exist, lets Congress build any lower courts it wants beneath it, and shields every federal judge with two guarantees: tenure during “good Behaviour” and a salary that cannot be cut while they serve.1Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article III, Section 1
The full text reads: “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.”1Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article III, Section 1
Four distinct things happen in that sentence. Each has generated its own body of law.
Vesting the Judicial Power
The opening phrase assigns all federal judicial authority to the courts, mirroring the vesting clauses in Article I (legislative power) and Article II (executive power). By parceling the three powers out to three branches, the Constitution builds a structural check: no single branch writes, enforces, and interprets the law. Federal judges draw their authority directly from this clause, not by delegation from Congress or the President.
The Supreme Court has defined “judicial power” as the authority to decide cases, pronounce judgment, and carry that judgment into effect between the parties before the court.2Constitution Annotated. Overview of Cases or Controversies The definition doubles as a limit. Federal courts cannot investigate problems on their own, weigh in on hypothetical questions, or act before a real dispute arrives at the courthouse.
Cases and Controversies Only
Article III, Section 2 restricts federal courts to actual “cases” and “controversies.” A dispute has to be concrete, involve parties with genuinely opposing interests, and be resolvable by a court order.2Constitution Annotated. Overview of Cases or Controversies One consequence: federal courts cannot issue advisory opinions. If the President or Congress wants to know whether a proposed statute would be constitutional, no federal court has authority to say so in the abstract. Someone with a real stake has to sue.3Constitution Annotated. Overview of Advisory Opinions
Judicial Review
The most consequential power flowing from the vesting clause is judicial review, the authority to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. Article III does not spell this out. Chief Justice John Marshall established it in Marbury v. Madison (1803), reasoning that because the Constitution is the supreme law and judges are sworn to uphold it, a court that finds a statute at odds with the Constitution has to follow the Constitution and set the statute aside.4Constitution Annotated. Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review Judicial review has been the backbone of American constitutional law ever since, and it runs directly through the judicial power that Article III, Section 1 vests in the courts.
One Supreme Court, and Whatever Congress Adds
Section 1 requires a Supreme Court. Everything else is up to Congress. The Constitution does not fix the number of justices, the number of lower courts, or how they are organized. Congress fills in that structure by statute.1Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article III, Section 1
It did so almost immediately. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created district and circuit courts and defined their jurisdiction, and that basic three-tier architecture has expanded over time without fundamentally changing.5National Archives. Federal Judiciary Act (1789) Today, 94 district courts handle trials, 13 courts of appeals review district decisions, and the Supreme Court sits above them.6United States Courts. Court Role and Structure
The size of the Supreme Court itself is a statutory choice, not a constitutional one. Congress changed the number six times before settling on nine in 1869.7Supreme Court of the United States. The Court as an Institution Federal law currently sets the Court at one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices,8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1 – Number of Justices and because that number lives in a statute rather than in Article III, Congress could change it again.
Tenure During Good Behaviour
The “good Behaviour” clause gives Article III judges what functions as a lifetime appointment. A federal judge can stay in office as long as they choose, absent conduct serious enough to warrant impeachment. Article III itself imposes no reconfirmation, no performance review, and no mandatory retirement age.
The design is deliberate. A judge who has to face reappointment or reelection has an incentive to hedge on unpopular rulings. Lifetime tenure removes that incentive, which is what lets federal judges rule against the government when the law requires it.
Removal Only by Impeachment
The one constitutional route for removing an Article III judge is impeachment. The House impeaches by majority vote; the Senate then tries the case, and conviction requires a two-thirds vote of members present.9Constitution Annotated. Article I Section 3 Clause 6 The grounds are the same as for any federal officer: treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.10Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 4 – Impeachment The two-thirds threshold is intentionally steep, so a judge cannot be ousted over a controversial ruling. In more than two centuries, the House has impeached only fifteen federal judges and the Senate has convicted eight.
Senior Status
Lifetime tenure does not mean judges stay at full capacity forever. Federal law lets Article III judges take “senior status,” a semi-retirement in which they keep hearing a reduced caseload while opening their seat for a new appointment. Eligibility follows a sliding scale: a judge must be at least 65 and meet a combined age-and-service threshold. At 65, fifteen years of service are required; at 70, ten years are enough.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status Senior judges keep their Article III protections, including their salary.
Salary That Cannot Be Diminished
The final clause bars any reduction of a sitting judge’s pay. Congress can raise judicial salaries, but it cannot cut them. This financial guarantee pairs with lifetime tenure to keep the other branches from retaliating against judges whose decisions they dislike.1Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article III, Section 1
The Supreme Court addressed the reach of that guarantee in United States v. Will (1980). Congress had enacted broad salary reductions across all three branches, and the question was whether a nondiscriminatory pay cut that happened to include judges violated the Compensation Clause. The Court held that it did: even a general reduction not aimed at the judiciary triggers the protection. The Court also held, though, that Congress can cancel a planned future raise before it takes effect. Once a raise takes effect, rolling it back is unconstitutional.12Constitution Annotated. Compensation Clause Doctrine
Who Counts as an Article III Judge
Not every federal judge is an Article III judge. The protections in Section 1 reach only judges appointed under Article III itself: Supreme Court justices, circuit judges, and district judges.13United States Courts. Types of Federal Judges Several other judges in the federal system serve fixed, renewable terms and do not have lifetime tenure or salary protection under Article III:
- Magistrate judges, appointed by district court judges for eight-year terms.
- Bankruptcy judges, appointed by circuit court judges for fourteen-year terms.
- Court of Federal Claims judges, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for fifteen-year terms.
- Tax Court judges, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for fifteen-year terms.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 7443 – Membership
These judges do essential work, but their fixed terms mean they can be reappointed or replaced. Only Article III judges answer solely to the impeachment process, which is what the Section 1 guarantees are built around.