Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cried on the Senate floor after two Democratic-appointed federal judges reversed their decisions to retire in the wake of the election result, claiming that their “partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary.”
US District Judge Algenon Marbley notified President Joe Biden of his plans to remain an active judge on the Southern District of Ohio just days after Trump won reelection. And US District Judge Max Cogburn’s seat on the Western District of North Carolina is no longer listed as a future vacancy on the federal judiciary’s official site. Marbley is a Bill Clinton appointee and Cogburn was appointed by Barack Obama.
Both Marbley and Cogburn made public their intent to take senior status, a form of semi-retirement, upon confirmation of successors to their respective seats. Biden never nominated replacements.
“It’s hard to conclude this is anything other than open partisanship,” McConnell whined.
Watch Turtle’s knee-slapping comments below:
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) spoke on the floor following Turtle’s tone deaf speech.
Durbin reminded his colleagues that McConnell defied President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination, Merrick Garland, for nearly a year.
“So when I hear the senator come to the floor—from Kentucky—and talk about whether there’s any gamesmanship going on—I don’t know. But I can tell you we saw it at the highest possible level filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court when Antonin Scalia passed away,” Durbin said on the floor.
A Democratic aide also pointed out that at least three Republican-appointed judges rescinded their decisions to retire over the past 16 years.
