Third federal judge backtracks on plans to retire, depriving Trump of key nominations
CNN
A federal appeals court judge has withdrawn his intention to retire, depriving President-elect Donald Trump of the ability to make an influential circuit court nomination and enraging Senate Republicans.
A federal appeals court judge has withdrawn his intention to retire, depriving President-elect Donald Trump of the ability to make an influential circuit court nomination and enraging Senate Republicans. Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn, an appointee of President Barack Obama, told the White House late last week that he was reversing his plans to take senior status, the semi-retired status that allows a president to confirm a replacement, according to a letter posted on Saturday by Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Wynn marks the third federal judge appointed by Democratic presidents to decide against retirement after Trump’s reelection. After Wynn said early this year that he intended to leave active service, President Joe Biden had put forward North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park as a replacement. But Park – who was opposed by Republicans, including Tillis – never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. As a part of a deal with the Senate GOP last month, Democrats agreed not to try to confirm Park and three other circuit court nominees, and in exchange, Republicans would clear the way for several Biden nominees for lower district courts to be voted on. Tillis, in a statement on Saturday, pointed to that agreement while calling Wynn’s reversal a “slap in the face.”
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