A third federal judge has backtracked on plans to retire in the weeks following President-elect Donald Trump’s win. Judge James Wynn of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told the White House he will not leave active service.
Senate Republicans blocked President Biden’s nominee to replace Wynn. Democrats agreed to allow the block to stand in exchange for letting other judge nominations to move forward.
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Wynn, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, joins Southern District Court Chief Judge Algenon Marbley and North Carolina District Judge Max Cogburn as Democratic judicial picks, rescinding their plans to retire since Trump’s November victory.
Their decisions take away a likely opportunity for President-elect Trump to appoint more conservative replacements.
Cogburn did not comment for a story CNN published earlier this month. The platform was, however, able to obtain a letter by Marbley where he cited the Senate blocking a replacement as his decision to stay.
Judges can retire when they choose. One district judge each reversed course after George W. Bush won the 2004 election, and when Obama won in 2008. However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused the recent judges of playing politics.
“It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship,” McConnell said in a speech on Monday, Dec. 2. “They roll the dice that a Democrat could replace them. And now he won’t, they’re changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it.”
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee hit back. They pointed to reports McConnell did something similar in 2020, urging Republican appointees to retire before the election.
“Senator McConnell has no room to talk when it comes to judges deciding if and when to retire,” the committee said in a post on X.
Two Republican appointees have also pulled back on retirement in recent years. A 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge did it in 2018 when President Trump didn’t appoint his preferred successor. Last year, a Kentucky district court judge did it after a deal between President Joe Biden and McConnell fell through.
