Twenty-four federal judges are claiming senior status, most in an effort to give Democrat President Joe Biden an opportunity to appoint their replacement, according to multiple media reports.
When including federal judges that had already taken senior status before Biden was elected, there are now more than 70 appointments waiting to be filled, Breitbart reports.
Though one judge said his decision had nothing to do with politics, the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "it seems like no coincidence that, out of 24 federal judges who have taken senior status or announced intentions to do so since election day, 17 were appointed by Democratic presidents. Most of them were eligible for senior status during Donald Trump's presidency but chose to wait."
An unidentified Ninth Circuit judge told the Los Angeles Times: "Clinton judges across the country have just been holding on" for a Democrat to appoint their successor.
Trump appointed 54 appeals court judges in his one term, only one less than President Barack Obama appointed in two terms in office. Trump was also able to name conservative judges to the traditionally liberal Ninth Circuit as well as other circuits.
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