A federal appeals judge has reversed his decision to retire from active service on the bench, blocking President-elect Trump from seating his successor.
Judge James Wynn, an appointee of former President Obama on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, announced his decision to continue in his current role in a Friday letter to President Biden.
“I write to advise that, after careful consideration, I have decided to continue in
regular active service as a United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit,” Wynn wrote, apologizing for “any inconvenience” caused by the decision.
The judge’s name has also been removed from a list of future judicial vacancies compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The Hill requested comment from Wynn’s chambers.
Wynn’s decision came after North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park, Biden’s intended replacement for the seat, withdrew his nomination. The withdrawal followed Park’s being denied floor votes under a Senate agreement established to let Biden’s remaining district court nominees advance without stalling tactics by Republicans, according to Reuters.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) rebuked Wynn’s decision as “brazenly partisan,” accusing the nearly 35-year judicial veteran of exemplifying a larger issue of some judges being “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,” Tillis wrote on the social media platform X.
The senator suggested the Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on Wynn’s conduct and said ethics complaints and recusal demands would be deserved. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) similarly said that “significant ethics complaints” and “serial recusal demands” for Wynn would be imminent.
“He’s earned it,” McConnell said.
Two other judges, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn in North Carolina and U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley in Ohio, have rescinded retirement plans following the presidential election. Marbley’s chambers declined to comment; The Hill requested comment from Cogburn’s chambers.
