Republicans Push Bill To Break Up The 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals

On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court delivered a devastating blow to the Trump administration. The Court upheld the suspension of Trump’s immigration order, and progressives danced in the streets.

“We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay,” the three court panel wrote.

The ruling even had Hillary Clinton feeling relevant again.

3-0

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 10, 2017

Trump had a pretty swift response himself.

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

LAWFARE: "Remarkably, in the entire opinion, the panel did not bother even to cite this (the) statute." A disgraceful decision!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2017

The Trump administration is examining its options. It could bring the case to the Supreme Court, but it’s not likely the administration could win the battle. A 4-4 decision would mean the lower court ruling would stand. Keep in mind, too. The 9th Circuit didn’t rule on the constitutionality of the actual order. The panel ruled on the stay. Big difference.

That brings us back to the 9th Circuit. It’s the most overturned court in the United States. It takes around 15 months to pass down a ruling. It’s big, bloated and desperately needs to be disbanded. When it was first created, it represented 4 percent of the population. Now, it represents around 20 percent. That’s why Sen. Jeff Flake and Sen. John McCain introduced legislation last month to break up the 9th Circuit and create a new 12th Circuit, comprised of Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Arizona and Alaska. Meaning, the 9th Circuit would be left with California, Oregon, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

.@FoxNews @SpecialReport on my effort w @dougducey & @SenJohnMcCain to get #AZ out of the oversized, overworked & oft-overturned #9thCircuit pic.twitter.com/TtdteiTNmP

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) February 9, 2017

“It represents 20 percent of the population — and 40 percent of the land mass is in that jurisdiction. It’s just too big,” Flake said. “We have a bedrock principle of swift justice and if you live in Arizona or anywhere in the 9th Circuit, you just don’t have it.”

Republicans in the House introduced a similar version of the bill. Their version leaves Washington in the 9th Circuit.

Could this happen? Yes. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibilities. It’s been done before. Congress split the 8th Circuit in 1929 and took steps to disband the 9th Circuit in 1998. That effort failed.

If Republican lawmakers push this again, Democrats will most certainly view it as a political move. But the truth is, it’s long past due.