在美国联邦法官一词通常是指依照美国宪法第三条经美国总统提名并被美国参议院批准的法官。

另外，按照美国宪法国会不能改变最高法院。国会立法在美国不同地区创建了13个上诉法院（也叫巡回法院）和94个地区法院。这些法院的每个法官都属于联邦法官范畴。这包括了最高法院的首席大法官和陪审法官，上诉法院的巡回法官和地区法院的法官。另外，国际贸易法院的法官依据宪法第三条任命。

其他在联邦法院任职的法官包括破产法院的法官有时也被称为联邦法官。然而，他们不是按照宪法第三条的规定任命的。这种区别有时是表示说他们不是“第三条法官”，因为这些联邦法官的权力并不来源于美国宪法第三条。

In the United States, the title of federal judge means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate pursuant to the Appointments Clause in Article II of the United States Constitution.

In addition to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose existence and some aspects of whose jurisdiction are beyond the constitutional power of Congress to alter, Congress has established 13 courts of appeals (also called "circuit courts") with appellate jurisdiction over different regions of the United States, and 94 United States district courts. Every judge appointed to such a court may be categorized as a federal judge; such positions include the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Circuit Judges of the courts of appeals, and district judges of the United States district courts. All of these judges described thus far are referred to sometimes as "Article III judges" because they exercise the judicial power vested in the judicial branch of the federal government by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, judges of the Court of International Trade exercise judicial power pursuant to Article III.