Senate Judiciary Committee grills Ninth and First Circuit nominees over past writings, views

WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee members pressed two federal appeals court nominees on their past writings, affiliations and judicial philosophy during a hearing that focused on whether those matters bear on lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

The committee heard from Eric Tongue, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Joshua Dunlap, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Democrats, led by Sen. Richard Durbin and Sen. Alex Padilla, raised concerns about Tongue’s college-era comments and more recent statements, while Republicans emphasized originalist and textualist approaches to interpretation and praised the nominees’ records.

Why it matters: Appellate judges set binding precedent for large regions of the country; the Ninth Circuit covers nine Western states and the First Circuit covers New England. Nominees’ written views and prior advocacy became focal points because circuit judges decide high-profile legal questions and serve lifetime terms.

Lawmakers pressed Tongue about a 2004 college speech and later remarks in which he said he…