Law & Crime
A federal judge in North Carolina who was appointed to the bench by former president Barack Obama has rescinded his decision to take “senior status,” making him the second Democratic appointee to pull a reverse retirement on Donald Trump before the president-elect can take office and select their replacements.
U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina was quietly removed from the federal judiciary’s list of future vacancies late last month, according to Reuters, just weeks after U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio, a Bill Clinton appointee, announced that he would be remaining active after officially rescinding a “senior status” bid he made in October 2023 to semi-retire.
President Joe Biden never nominated anyone to replace Cogburn, 73, after his “senior status” announcement in 2022 — nor did he confirm a successor for Marbley, who unretired on Nov. 8 — on account of there being a split in support from their respective state’s senators. Per the Senate’s “blue slip” policy, home-state senators have the ability to support or oppose presidential nominees.
For Marbley, it was Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Ohio’s Republican senator, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who would have needed to each confirm Biden’s nominee. In North Carolina, Biden would’ve had to try and get his pick past two Republicans: Sen. Ted Budd and Sen. Thom Tillis.
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Obama-appointed judge becomes second on federal bench to unretire on Trump after election win
