Federal judge walks back retirement, and Sen. Tillis is irate

U.S. Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn of North Carolina.

A federal judge’s decision to reverse course on retirement has drawn the ire of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took issue with U.S. Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn’s decision, alleging a politically motivated ploy to deny Republicans the opportunity to appoint his successor.

“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 in a Dec. 14 statement. “Judge Wynn clearly takes issue with the fact that Donald Trump 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.”

Wynn, a Democrat who was appointed to the bench in 2014 by President Barack Obama, alerted President Joe Biden he changed his mind.

“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 in a Dec. 13 letter. “As a result of that decision, I respectfully withdraw my letter to you of January 5, 2024. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused.”

Tillis, who noted that Wynn, 70, even attended a retirement party, suggested the Senate launch a probe into the judge’s change of mind.

“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.”

Wynn is the third jurist to reverse course since Donald Trump won last month’s presidential election, joining U.S. District Judges Max Cogburn Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina, an Obama appointee, and Judge Algenon Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, according to Reuters.

Cogburn announced plans to take senior status after his successor was confirmed in 2022, but President Joe Biden did not choose a replacement. Any judicial nominee would have needed the approval of both senators from the judge’s home state. In North Carolina, that means Tillis and fellow Republican Ted Budd would need to sign off as part of the so-called blue-slip approval custom.

The judges’ decisions come amid an agreement between Senate Democrats and Republicans in which the chamber won’t hold votes on four of Biden’s appeals court nominees while advancing his district court picks.

The deal was made after Republican senators held up judicial confirmations after Election Day. The judges’ retirement reversals eliminate vacancies for Trump to fill when he takes office.

Tillis and Budd warned Senate Democrats in July they had enough votes to block Biden’s pick to replace Wynn, North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park. Tillis accused Park of partisanship that disqualified him from serving on the bench and criticized the White House of being “absolutely incompetent” for the names they put forward for consideration, which included former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, a Democrat who lost to Budd in the 2022 Senate race.

Democrats, who are the Senate majority until next month, approved Park’s nomination anyway, but the bipartisan deal derailed his candidacy.

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