Feinstein, Harris call on White House to reconsider 9th Circuit nominations

California's two Democratic senators are not giving up in the battle to fill vacancies on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting pressure on the White House to come back to the bargaining table despite the fact that President Donald Trump has already announced his nominees to the court.

In a publicly released letter addressed to presumptive White House Counsel Pat A. Cipollone Monday, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala D. Harris said they would like to renegotiate nominees to the federal bench in California, a move that comes less than a week after paperwork was filed formally nominating Trump's picks.

More than a year's worth of negotiations between the two senators and the White House over the judicial vacancies fell through in October, when Trump announced his intent to nominate Patrick J. Bumatay, Daniel P. Collins and Kenneth K. Lee to three vacant seats on the 9th Circuit.

Feinstein and Harris immediately cried foul, saying lawyers in the White House Counsel's office responsible for overseeing the selection of nominees had not negotiated in good faith.

COLLINS

In the following weeks, questions arose as to whether the three would be the final nominees, given that the Senate session was soon ending and formal nominating papers had not been filed. But the White House ended that speculation last week when the three attorneys' names were sent to the Senate for consideration.

In Monday's letter, Feinstein and Harris noted they had previously been amenable to a nomination package including current U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh, whom President Barack Obama unsuccessfully nominated to the 9th Circuit in 2016, and Orange County Superior Court Judge James E. Rogan, who previously served as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to an undecided third candidate.

"[W]e would also be willing to work with your office on an agreement similar to one that the White House struck with Senators [Dick] Durbin and [Tammy] Duckworth," Feinstein and Harris wrote, pointing to the nomination of Judges Amy St. Eve and Michael Scudder, both of whom were unanimously confirmed to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year.

The senators proposed selecting a candidate from the White House list of possible nominees, the White House selecting a name from the senators' list of preferred candidates and further discussions over a final selection for the third vacancy.

The letter comes as the judicial confirmation process will likely see two new key players in the coming months.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has been publicly mulling dropping his leadership role to instead head the Senate Finance Committee. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been a vocal critic of how Democrats have handled Trump's federal judicial nominees, has publicly expressed interest in taking Grassley's place.

A change in leadership could be a problem for California's senators, given Grassley has reportedly been deferential to Feinstein, who sits as the committee's ranking Democratic member, and might have been more likely to honor her unreturned blue slips.

LEE

Meanwhile, changes in the White House Counsel's office will give Feinstein and Harris a new opportunity to make a relationship with the person charged with marshaling through the president's judicial picks.

Cipollone will soon take the place of former White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn II, whose final act in the office was moving forward the 9th Circuit nominees. McGahn was effective at guiding Trump's judges through the Senate confirmation process.

How Cipollone will fare in continuing the president's success at appointing judges remains to be seen.

Feinstein and Harris also noted the number of California district court vacancies, suggesting potential negotiations over a consensus slate could include compromises on those seats.

Trump nominated Jeremy B. Rosen, Mark Scarsi and Judge Stanley Blumenfeld to three seats on the Central District court along with his 9th Circuit picks in October. Until now, California's senators had not addressed their views on the nominees in public statements.

But on Monday they said the package, as announced, was unacceptable.

"While we continue to oppose the slate of nominees the White House put forward on October 10, we remain hopeful that you will work with us to reach a bipartisan agreement in a timely manner," they wrote.