Two nominees to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a target of President Trump’s ire, cleared a major hurdle Thursday as they won approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The panel voted 12-10 along party lines to advance the nominations of Kenneth Lee and Daniel Collins, who were first chosen by Trump last year for seats on the 9th Circuit, considered to be the country’s most liberal appeals court.
The nominations will now head to the Senate floor for a vote.
Lee came under scrutiny by Democrats on the panel for his college writings on sexual assault, race, and LGBT rights, which were not initially turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Among the writings was one titled “Ebonics at Cornell,” in which he defended The Cornell Review for an article that was a parody of Ebonics.
“If the Oakland School Board provides politically correct, feel-good nonsense to poor urban blacks, Cornell University does the same for middle-class and affluent blacks,” Lee wrote while he was an undergraduate at the school.
Last month, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., urged Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to pull Lee’s nomination, citing “disregard for the Senate vetting process and his failure to turn over requested material.” Neither senator returned their blue slips, which allow a home-state senator to provide input on a nominee, for Lee or Collins.
Lee is one of several of Trump’s judicial nominees who have been slammed for writings dating back to their college years. Among those was Neomi Rao, Trump’s pick to fill Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who was scrutinized for college op-eds on date rape and sexual assault.
Collins, meanwhile, was opposed by Feinstein and Harris for his “temperament and rigidity,” as well as his past work for the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank.
The 9th Circuit has heard numerous cases challenging Trump’s policies, including the travel ban and the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and has ruled against the president. As a result, Trump often lashes out against the court, calling it “unfair” and a “disgrace.”
But with the nominations of Lee and Collins, Trump has the chance to bring the 9th Circuit closer to parity. If the two are confirmed, 11 of the judges will be appointed by Republicans and 16 appointed by Democrats. Two more vacancies on the 9th Circuit remain, and Trump nominated Daniel Bress to fill one of those seats in February.
Trump has reshaped the federal judiciary since assuming the presidency, with the Senate confirming 37 of his nominees to the federal courts of appeals and two Supreme Court justices.
