Senate Judiciary Committee advances two Trump 9th Circuit nominees
by Melissa Quinn
| April 04, 2019 12:26 PM
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.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate-judiciary-committee-advances-two-trump-9th-circuit-nominees
