DIRTY DEAL: Third federal judge un-retires, after Schumer made deal with Republicans on judges

5

For ads-free news, click here.

Republican senators really dropped the ball on this one.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been in a mad rush to get a number of liberal judges confirmed before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and was able to get many pushed through during the “lame-duck” session, simply because some Republicans were out and not available to vote.

There were four liberal circuit court judges who had announced they planned to retire.

In November, Schumer struck a deal with senate Republicans. The Republicans would vote to confirm Biden’s district court nominees. In exchange, Democrats promised to hold the four circuit court vacancies for the Trump Administration, so Trump could fill those vacancies with his own nominees.

“The trade was four circuit nominees, all lacking the votes to get confirmed, for more than triple the number of additional judges moving forward,” Schumer’s office had announced.

The four retiring judges were reported as:

  • Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Wynn
  • Judge Max Cogburn Jr. for the Western District of North Carolina
  • Judge Algenon Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio
  • 6th Circuit Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch

Now at least three of those “retiring” judges have backtracked on their plans to retire and vacate their seat, denying Trump the opportunity to appoint his own nominees.

So far, Stranch has not changed her plans, and is still included on the  list of future vacancies operated by the administrative office of the judiciary.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blasted the latest “un-retirement,” writing in a post on X, “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.

“Judge Wynn clearly takes issue with the fact that @realDonaldTrump was just elected President, and this decision is a slap in the face to the U.S. Senate, which came to a bipartisan agreement to hold off on confirming his replacement until the next Congress is sworn-in in January,” he continued.

“The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on his blatant attempt to turn the judicial retirement system into a partisan game, and he deserves the ethics complaints and recusal demands from the Department of Justice heading his way,” Tillis added.

“We are going to do everything we can to confirm as many of President Biden’s well-qualified judges as we can,” touted Schumer earlier this month.

“Judges are lifetime appointees and they can decide to remain on the bench for any reason or no reason at all. But backtracking on the Senate deal looks like political bad faith,” wrote the Wall Street Journal editorial board.

Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
Dennis Michael Lynch personal: www.X.com/TrustDML
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp

The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS SECTION