Third federal judge backtracks on plans to retire, depriving Trump of key nominations
By Tierney Sneed, CNN
Washington (CNN) — A federal appeals court judge has withdrawn his intention to retire, depriving President-elect Donald Trump of the ability to make an influential circuit court nomination and enraging Senate Republicans.
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.”
“Judge Wynn’s brazenly partisan decision to rescind his retirement is an unprecedented move that demonstrates some judges are nothing more than politicians in robes,” Tillis said.
Tillis, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, suggested that Wynn would face ethics complaints and requests for recusals in cases involving the incoming Trump administration if they backtracked on their retirement plans.
Officials at the 4th Circuit did not return CNN’s requests for comment. Currently, Democratic appointees make up nine of the 15 active judges on the appeals court, which covers North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.
The circuit has been the site of sharp judicial confirmation fights in the past. Wynn himself was first nominated for the court in 1999, but his confirmation languished for years because North Carolina’s then-Sen. Jesse Helms, a Republican, opposed him. Wynn was finally confirmed in 2010.
Under Trump, Republicans ended the so-called “blue slip” rule for circuit nominees that required those nominees to have the support of their home state senators in order to advance. It continues to exist for district court nominees.
In a floor speech earlier this month, lambasting two district court judges who had reversed on plans to retire after Trump’s election, McConnell signaled out both Wynn and 6th Circuit Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch with warnings that they not follow suit. Like Wynn, Stranch could backtrack on retirement plans because she did not formally step down when Biden named her replacement.
As of Monday morning, Stranch was still listed on the list of future vacancies operated by the administrative office of the judiciary.
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