Senate withdraws Trump circuit judge nominee over racial writings

WASHINGTON: Senate leaders took the rare step of withdrawing President Donald Trump’s latest circuit court judge nominee on Thursday, after an African-American Republican lawmaker expressed concern about the attorney’s race-tinged college writings.

Senator Tim Scott ultimately tanked the nomination when it became clear that Ryan Bounds, an assistant United States attorney in Oregon, would not have sufficient support for confirmation as a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“For the information of all senators, the nomination will be withdrawn,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Republican-controlled chamber minutes before the scheduled vote.It was a surprise move that dealt a blow to the White House, as judicial nominees are rarely withdrawn at such a late stage.

Bounds wrote a 1995 article for a conservative student paper while attending Stanford University, in which he discussed the concept of “race think” and diversity promotion by “strident racial factions” of the student body.

As a nominee to the circuit court Bounds had faced opposition from his home state’s two senators, both Democrats, along with all other Democrats in the chamber.But a GOP source familiar with the proceedings said Bounds ran into deep trouble when Scott, the Senate’s only black Republican, raised concerns about the college writings.