A federal judge this morning briefly raised the possibility of revoking bail for state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo after Fumo said he had not yet retained a lawyer to represent him at his fraud and obstruction of justice trial.

But by the end of a brief hearing, U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. had relented, saying he was satisfied that Fumo was moving quickly to hire a defense lawyer.

Fumo, who is scheduled to have back surgery on Tuesday (likely to sideline him for up to a month), said he has been diligently searching for a defense lawyer and had met with six lawyers, four from Philadelphia and two from New Jersey, and also was considering counsel from New York.

In court yesterday, Yohn expressed concern that further delay would affect the new lawyer’s time to prepare for trial, now set to begin in late February.

The judge then brought up the possibility of revoking bail, prompting Fumo to note that federal prosecutors have had four years to prepare the case him. “It’s for me a life or death decision to have to make,” Fumo told Yohn.

Not quite, said Yohn, saying it was more a decision that would affect his “public life or death” and that others have survived.