McConnell pulls Trump Ore. judicial pick minutes before vote

(Update: Wyden, Merkley comment on decision)

WASHINGTON (AP) – In a surprise move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has withdrawn one of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees just minutes before he was set for a confirmation vote.

McConnell announced Thursday on the Senate floor that he was pulling the nomination of Ryan Bounds. Trump had nominated the assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon to be a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The withdrawal of the nomination is a blow to the White House. Judicial nominations are rarely pulled back at such a late stage in the process unless a nominee does not have the support to pass.

The two senators from Bounds’ home state, Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, had objected to the nomination and protested his confirmation in speeches on the Senate floor.

Wyden issued a statement after the move:

“I am gratified that the Senate has come to its senses and that long-time, proven practices of bipartisanship for judicial nominations have prevailed over partisan efforts to force through a deeply flawed and compromised nominee,” Wyden said.

“I want Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein and the administration to know that I am ready and willing to work with them on finding a nominee who deserves a seat on the 9th Circuit.”

Merkle released the following statement after the White House withdrew the judicial nomination of Ryan Bounds:

“Today, the integrity of our courts and of a 101-year tradition of consulting home state Senators on judicial appointments was preserved. I am pleased that President Trump and my Republican colleagues have recognized what Senator Wyden and I have known all along — that Ryan Bounds should never have been nominated in the first place.

“Ryan Bounds’ decision to hide inflammatory and intolerant writings from our bipartisan selection committee should have been automatically disqualifying. Instead, in their fervor to pack the courts with young right-wing judges handpicked by deeply partisan groups, Republicans continued to push his nomination forward. But today, they stepped back from the brink and put the good of our country, of our courts, and of the Senate above party.”

Had he been confirmed today, Bounds would have been the first judicial nominee in at least a century to become a federal judge over the objections of both home state senators–a tradition known as the “blue slip” process. The blue slip translates the Senate’s constitutional responsibility of “advice and consent” on judicial nominees into practice. It ensures that the president consults with home-state senators on lifetime appointments.

Merkley and Wyden had refused to return their blue slips following the revelation that Bounds had hid inflammatory writings revealing his archaic and alarming views about sexual assault, the rights of workers, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

Earlier in the week, Merkley and Wyden led a prolonged effort on the Senate floor to highlight the myriad reasons why Ryan Bounds was unqualified for the powerful appellate court. They were joined by Senators Schumer, Blumenthal, Whitehouse, Casey, Warren, and Klobuchar. Video from the floor effort is available here .