Outgoing Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scolded two federal judges on Tuesday who decided not to retire after President-elect Donald Trump's election victory last month, The Hill reported.
U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn of western North Carolina went back on a 2022 announcement that he would assume part-time status this coming year. Cogburn's decision followed that of U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Ohio, who also changed his mind about taking a senior status role on the court following Trump's victory.
Marbley was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. Cogburn was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Senior status is available to judges over the age of 65 who have completed at least 15 years on the federal bench. Senior judges typically have reduced caseloads but continue to hear cases, including new ones, without formally retiring.
"They rolled the dice that a Democrat could replace them and now that he won't, they're changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "It's a brazen admission. And the incoming administration would be wise to explore all available recusal options with these judges, because it's clear now that they have a political finger on the scale."
McConnell said the judges' maneuver threatens to undermine a deal coordinated before Thanksgiving between Senate Democrats and Republicans to confirm nearly a dozen district judges for President Joe Biden in exchange for Trump getting four more circuit court seats to fill.
"This sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary. It exposes bold Democratic blue where there should only be black robes," McConnell said. "It's hard to conclude this is anything other than open partisanship."
McConnell was accused of his own partisanship by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who cited McConnell's "gamesmanship" to keep then-Judge Merrick Garland off the Supreme Court in 2016 when Republicans controlled the Senate.
Republicans were able to keep Justice Antonin Scalia's seat empty for close to a year before it was eventually filled by Trump with Neil Gorsuch.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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