Judge N. Randy Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has announced that he will be taking senior status next year, opening up another spot to fill for President Donald Trump on the nation's largest federal appellate court.

Smith, a President George W. Bush appointee, announced his intention to go senior on Aug. 11, 2018, but indicated that he intends to take cases as a senior judge. “I look forward to continuing service to our country,” wrote Smith in a Dec. 1 letter to Trump. “However, at that time, I wish to provide another opportunity for an Idaho lawyer to serve here.”

Smith, a native of southeastern Idaho, previously served as a state judge for the Sixth District in Pocatello, Idaho, where he keeps his Ninth Circuit chambers. He was nominated to two different vacancies on the Ninth Circuit by Bush before eventually being confirmed in 2007.

Smith was initially nominated in late 2005 to a seat vacated by Judge Stephen Trott, who kept chambers in Boise. However, California's U.S. senators argued Smith shouldn't fill a “California seat” at the Ninth Circuit, since Trott was confirmed while a Californian and initially kept chambers in the state. Smith was eventually nominated and confirmed in early 2007 to a seat vacated by fellow Idahoan Judge Thomas Nelson.

While serving on the Ninth Circuit, Smith most notably wrote the dissenting opinion in Perry v. Brown, the Ninth Circuit decision that found California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

“Our personal views regarding the political and sociological debate on marriage equality are irrelevant to our task,” wrote Smith in the opening of his dissent. Smith wrote that Proposition 8 should be decided under rational basis review taking into account whether the government action was rationally related to a legitimate public purpose. He found that a number of the reasons set forth for the proposition, including that it promoted “responsible procreation” and “optimal parenting,” met that low threshold.

Smith's move gives Trump yet another seat to fill on the court, which he has repeatedly criticized. In September, Trump nominated Ryan Bounds, an assistant U.S. attorney in Portland  and former clerk for Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, to fill the seat left open when O'Scannlain took senior status at the end of last year.