U.S. Circuit Judge D. Brooks Smith is stepping down from active service on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, creating a new judicial vacancy for President Joe Biden that will allow him to potentially tilt the makeup of the Philadelphia-based court.
Smith, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, is taking senior status but not retiring from the bench altogether after officially stepping down on Saturday as the 3rd Circuit's chief judge.
He was first appointed to a Pennsylvania state court judgeship by former Republican Governor Dick Thornburgh in 1984 and was nominated by former Republican President Ronald Reagan to serve as a district judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1988.Smith was one of eight Republican-appointees among the 3rd Circuit's 14 active judges.
Pennsylvania, by contrast, has one Republican senator, Senator Patrick Toomey, though it is unclear how that might impact any replacement.