It has long been a dream of Republicans in mountain states to get their jurisdictions out from under the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. They tried this at the beginning of George W. Bush’s presidency, and they’re trying it again now.

The 9th Circuit, which conservatives used to disparage more than they do now, includes all U.S. territories in the Pacific, plus Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. It is by a very long way the largest circuit geographically and in terms of population, and it has more than twice as many judges as the neighboring 10th and 8th Circuits.