Politicians are notorious for changing their minds, typically in the direction that makes the most political sense to them. Judges generally are not.
But two federal judges have changed their plans to retire – and so does Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican of Kentucky). no one was particularly happy about it.
The Senate GOP leader On Monday, two federal judges criticized the decision to reverse their announced resignations after former Republican President Trump won re-election in November.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the two “partisan Democratic district judges” after they announced plans to “come out of retirement” after “the American people voted to fire the Democrats last month.”
“Historically, only two justices have ever retired following a presidential election. A Democrat in 2004 and a Republican in 2009. But now, in just a few weeks, the Democrats have already equaled that all-time record. “It’s hard to draw a conclusion that this is anything but open partisanship,” McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor.
The judges in question are Ohio U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley and North Carolina U.S. District Court Judge Max Cogburn. Both had previously announced they would assume senior status (creating two vacancies), but then changed course after Donald Trump won the presidency on November 5.
McConnell said her decision to revoke her retirements after Trump’s victory showed “a political finger on the scale.” He called on the modern Trump administration to “explore all available recusal options with these judges.”
But it’s two other federal judges at the district court level who could really throw a spanner in the works if they adhere to the same principles as Cogburn and Marbley.
As Streiff reported in November, an agreement was previously reached between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate that would allow President-elect Trump to appoint four district-level judges when he takes office.
Trump gets four district court judges in a major deal with Senate Democrats
In a historic moment in contemporary American political history, Senate Democrats gave Donald Trump four District Court seats in exchange for an expedited vote 11 vacancies at the district court. The deal was struck by Senate Republicans effectively delaying the confirmation hearings so that the Democratic leadership shouted, “Uncle.”
“The reality was that we had a serious question about whether we had the votes for these four nominees and whether we could weigh the possibility of a record number of district judges against that possibility,” said Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL). Washington Examiner.
McConnell made it clear that there had better be no “take-backs” in relation to these District Judge positions.
He also warned two sitting district court judges who have announced their retirement and whose vacancies are currently pending before the Senate against making similar decisions aimed at “resigning.”
“Never before has a district judge not retired after a presidential election. This is literally unprecedented. And setting such a precedent would contradict a rare bipartisan compromise on filling those positions,” McConnell said.
If that were to happen and the carefully crafted deal fell through, one can only imagine that fireworks would go off in the Senate. I expect that the district judges will not play the same games as the district court judges, especially given that the election (and Trump’s victory) was already two weeks ago when the agreement was reached. But if so, grab the proverbial popcorn.
