As we were warning earlier, it looked like the White House was going behind Trump’s back to make a deal with California Democrats on appointments to the Ninth Circuit.
Feinstein and Harris did a drive-by smear of Kavanaugh. Their reward? The WH is now giving them final say over Ninth Circuit nominees. And a time when GOP finally has a decent Senate majority. The President signed off on this?
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) January 30, 2019
https://t.co/AJVW8VeUjL via @WSJOpinion
Well Trump just announced his appointments and Dems are going to be crying a lot over it:
https://twitter.com/EdWhelan123/status/1090778885556449281Kudos to President Trump on Ninth Circuit nominations of Daniel Collins, Daniel Bress, and Kenneth Lee.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelan123) January 31, 2019
Patrick Bumatay, previously nominated to Ninth Circuit, will now be nominated to federal district court (Southern District of California).
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelan123) January 31, 2019
Both Daniel Bress and Daniel Collins are former Scalia clerks.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelan123) January 31, 2019
No idea why decision was made not to renominate Bumatay, but Bress is excellent, so worries about White House cave have proven to be unfounded.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelan123) January 31, 2019
To clarify: Bumatay is being renominated, but to district-court seat rather than Ninth Circuit.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelan123) January 31, 2019
So it’s not a total victory, but pretty close:
Told by a reliable source that the WH has reached a deal w Dems on this and intends to renominate two of the three judges -- Collins and Lee -- but not Bumatay, who will be nominated to the district court. https://t.co/GE3T6qW92n
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) January 30, 2019
The White House has now officially nominated two of the theee nominees it had pulled, swapping in Dan Bress for Patrick Bumatay. This is a disappointment to some because Bumatay is Filipino, and conservatives are trying to increase the number of minorities on the circuit court. https://t.co/N5OMJtMTs4
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) January 31, 2019
Very good. Read our previous post on this…