I’m reliably informed that Eleventh Circuit judge Gerald Tjoflat, who has served on the federal bench since 1970, has declared his decision to take senior status, effective on the confirmation of his successor. Tjoflat’s decision gives President Trump a seat to fill in Florida. That will be the president’s fourth appointment to the Eleventh Circuit.
Tjoflat, who turns 90 in December, is the longest-serving federal judge in active status. President Nixon appointed him to the district court in 1970, and President Ford elevated him to the appellate court in 1975. (Ford appointed Tjoflat to the Fifth Circuit, but upon the Fifth Circuit’s division into two circuits in 1981, Tjoflat began his service on the Eleventh Circuit.)