President Donald Trump will be able to appoint another member of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, as Judge Kurt Engelhardt will take senior status.
Engelhardt, appointed to the influential and conservative federal appeals court by Trump during his first term, has told the White House of his intention to step back from active service, according to a person familiar with the correspondence.
Lyle Cayce, the clerk of court for the Fifth Circuit, confirmed in an email that Engelhardt informed the White House in a letter on Tuesday that he would take senior status on Dec. 31, or upon the confirmation of his successor.
“The letter indicated Judge Engelhardt intends to continue to render substantial judicial service as a senior judge,” Cayce said.
A person who answered the phone in Engelhardt’s chambers declined to comment.
Engelhardt’s seat is based out of New Orleans, meaning Louisiana’s Republican senators may have input on whoever fills the vacancy.
He was previously appointed by George W. Bush to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana before being elevated to the Fifth Circuit in 2018.
Engelhardt was one of two appellate judges appointed during Trump’s first term who are currently eligible to take senior status, a form of semi-retirement for federal judges. The other, Judge Ralph Erickson of the Eighth Circuit, announced in April his plans to take senior status.
The announcement comes as Trump runs out of time to nominate and confirm federal judges ahead of the midterm elections, when Republicans risk losing control of the Senate.
Robert Luther III, who worked on judicial nominations during the first Trump White House, said in an email that Engelhardt “has been a model jurist in every way.”
“I am grateful that he plans to continue to carry a substantial caseload. His successor will have large shoes to fill,” Luther said.