Trump judicial nominee Ryan Bounds withdrew his nomination after Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said that he couldn’t vote for him, and he was going to be rejected by the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called off the vote shortly before it was about to start, and the reason was the Senate’s lone African-American Republican Senator:
Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the only African-American member of Senate GOP conference, tells leaders that he can't vote for 9th Circuit Court nom Ryan Bounds because of racially insensitive remarks. Told leaders he need more time to review Bounds. McConnell withdraws nomination.
— Alex Bolton (@alexanderbolton) July 19, 2018
With John McCain absent from the Senate, due to his ongoing battle with brain cancer, Republicans didn’t have the votes to confirm Bounds to the circuit court. It is telling that the rest of the white Republicans had no problem confirming a nominee who had racist writings in his past, but it was the lone African-American in their caucus who killed the nomination.
The precedent set by the Bounds withdrawal also will have consequences for the Judge Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination fight. Republicans have now established that a judge’s writing can be a disqualifying factor, which means that Judge Kavanaugh’s writings on a president being immune from investigation and indictment can also be used to argue against his nomination.
The Bounds withdrawal was a loss for Trump that could have dire consequences for his Supreme Court nominee.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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