Two federal judges have changed the way they view seniority; will two appeals judges do the same?
Judiciary
2 federal judges have changed their minds about senior status; will 2 appeals judges follow suit?
December 5, 2024, 10:02 am CST
Two Democratic-appointed federal judges have announced that they no longer plan to take senior status after President-elect Donald Trump won a second term in the White House. (Image from Shutterstock)
After President-elect Donald Trump won a second term in the White House, two Democratic-appointed federal judges announced that they no longer plan to take senior status.
The reversal means that there will not be two additional vacancies for Trump to fill when he takes office, report Reuters, Law360, Law.com and CNN.
The two judges are:
* U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. Cogburn announced that he would take senior status in 2022 after his successor had been confirmed, but Biden didn’t choose a replacement. According to the U.S. Senate’s custom of blue-slip confirmation, any nominee would have required the approval of North Carolina’s two Republican U.S. Senators. According to the Columbus Dispatch, and Reuters, Marbley informed Biden that he planned to retire in October of 2023. Biden did not nominate a replacement. This would have required the support of Vice-President-elect J.D. The other senator is Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The other senator is Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. The deal gives Republicans a chance to fill seats on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and 1st Circuit in Boston. The two other appellate judgeships are not yet officially open because the judges made their transition to senior status contingent on confirmation of a successor.
Those two judges are Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch of the 6th Circuit at Cincinnati and Judge James Andrew Wynn of the 4th Circuit at Richmond, Virginia.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is worried about the possibility, according to CNN’s reporting on his comments.
“Never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election,” McConnell said. It’s literally unheard of. To create such a precedent is to go against a rare bipartisan agreement on how to fill these vacancies.
