Jackson Purchase News

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the Senate floor on Monday, discussing recent developments concerning judicial nominees. The remarks come after a deal was reached between Republicans and Democrats regarding nominations to district and circuit courts.

McConnell stated, "Republicans would forego our available procedural roadblocks on the remaining nominations to district courts—which have the votes to be confirmed—and in exchange the Democratic Leader won’t bring any of the remaining nominations to circuit courts to the floor—because they don’t have the votes to be confirmed."

This agreement allows President Biden to appoint approximately a dozen more district judges while leaving four circuit court vacancies for the next president. McConnell noted, "We have already seen two partisan Democrat district judges ‘un-retire’ after the American people voted to fire Democrats last month."

He highlighted that historically only two judges had previously un-retired following presidential elections: one Democrat in 2004 and one Republican in 2009. However, within weeks, Democrats have matched this record.

"It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship," McConnell remarked. He criticized these actions as undermining judicial integrity and suggested that recusal options should be considered for such judges by incoming administrations.

The senator expressed concern over potential un-retirement from circuit judges in Tennessee and North Carolina, stating it would set an unprecedented precedent against bipartisan compromise.

McConnell emphasized, "If these circuit judges unretire because they don’t like who won the election, I can only assume they will face significant ethics complaints based on Canons 2 and 5 of the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges."

He concluded by urging judges considering un-retirement to remain retired and leave politics to political branches where bipartisanship remains possible even amid contentious issues like judicial nominations.