U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday suddenly announced the withdrawal of Oregon federal prosecutor Ryan Bounds' controversial nomination for a vacancy on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The move came about 45 minutes after a Senate vote had been scheduled to confirm Bounds. McConnell offered no explanation, but Oregon's senators later said it quickly became apparent that the Republicans didn't have the votes.

The unusual withdrawal marked a blow for the White House and capped a contentious process, vigorously opposed by Oregon's Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. They had refused to return the traditional blue slips to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Bounds after learning he withheld information from a state judicial selection committee.

Bounds hadn't disclosed inflammatory college writings about sexual assault, the rights of workers, people of color and the LGBTQ community to the Oregon committee when questioned about his thoughts on diversity or if there was anything embarrassing from his past.

Both Wyden and Merkley repeatedly warned their Republican colleagues that a confirmation of Bounds would signal an end to bipartisan cooperation in judicial nominations, ending a 101-year custom.

"I am gratified that the Senate has come to its senses and that longtime, proven practices of bipartisanship for judicial nominations have prevailed over partisan efforts to force through a deeply flawed and compromised nominee," Wyden said in a statement.

He and Merkley buttonholed Republican senators about Bounds before the vote and felt the tide turning against the nomination.

"I think this is going to affect other nominees and strengthen the whole advice-and-consent role for members of the United States Senate,'' Wyden told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "It's going to be good for the cause of nominees being truthful. I think this is a win for the Oregon way.''

"It wasn't a complete surprise because several Republicans were looking carefully at this, but on the other hand, we knew a lot of pressure would be brought to bear," Merkley said. "This was a nominee from the Federalist Society, which has extraordinary huge leverage in driving through judicial nominees."

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, the Republican Caucus's lone African American senator, appears to have been a pivotal "no" vote. In a statement, Scott said he couldn't support Bounds if his name went to a vote Thursday after meeting with him.

"After talking with the nominee last night and meeting with him today, I had unanswered questions that led to me being unable to support him,'' Scott said.

Merkley said he and Wyden both had talked with Scott, and he believed Scott's decision made the difference, but that other Republican senators had misgivings about Bounds and the nomination process as well. Merkley said he had heard that Bounds would be defeated by about 70 votes, including the 49 Democratic senators, if his nomination had been put to a vote.

The Senate is split with 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats, but only 50 Republicans are able to vote now as Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is absent while he receives treatment for brain cancer.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, earlier Thursday called Bounds an exemplary candidate. A graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School, Bounds has worked since 2010 as an assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon.

"Mr. Bounds is eminently qualified,'' Grassley said. "His college writings do not represent who he is today.''

Just a day earlier, the Senate voted 50-to-49 to close off debate on Bounds' nomination, readying him for a confirmation vote.

Bounds has insisted that he was instructed to provide only material dating back to law school to the state selection committee. He later provided articles from The Stanford Review to the Senate Judiciary Committee and to the White House.

In May, Bounds apologized before the Judiciary Committee for the "often highhanded and overheated tone" of his Stanford commentary about campus politics.

"The intentions behind those articles were always to see greater tolerance and mutual understanding on campus - that was always my aim,'' he said then.

The Judiciary Committee voted 11-to-10 in June along party lines to forward Bounds' nomination to the Senate floor. Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues and President Donald Trump's administration for trying pack courts with "extremist judges.''

Wyden again Thursday on the Senate floor accused Bounds of misrepresenting and "covering up disturbing, intolerant writings'' from his past. Bounds didn't acknowledge the writings until they were uncovered and posed a threat to his nomination, Wyden said.

"What really outraged and shocked me was his comparison of organizations that promote multiculturalism and tolerance here in America to Nazi rallies,'' Wyden said.

Wyden also cautioned his colleagues that Bounds' confirmation would mark the end of cross-party cooperation in the consultation for judicial nominees.

"This means lights out -- lights out for this important bipartisan tradition,'' he said.

Grassley in turn chided the Democrats for getting rid of a 60-vote filibuster in 2013 to give Democrats the "freedom to pack the D.C. Circuit Court with liberal judges to uphold Obama regulatory schemes.''

Bounds, in an email Thursday afternoon, said he was proud to have been nominated. He said his greatest honor is serving the country and the Constitution, and he plans to continue in his role as a federal prosecutor.

"As a lawyer who grew up in a small town in Eastern Oregon, I was deeply proud to have been nominated to serve on a court of such vital importance to my community -- and the state I love,'' he said. "I could not be more thankful for the support of so many colleagues and friends from throughout the legal profession and across the political spectrum. Ultimately, however, my greatest honor is serving this country and the Constitution that protects it. I've been grateful for the opportunity to do so every day as a federal prosecutor, and I look forward to continuing to do so.''

U.S Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican who advocated for Bounds, said Bounds didn't deserve Thursday's outcome.

"Rural Oregon lost an opportunity to have a strong, thoughtful and fair judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today,'' Walden said. "There was a day when a man of his intellect, experience and ability would have easily won confirmation. Instead of judging him on his life's work as a successful federal prosecutor and respected member of the legal community, he was trashed for a couple of columns he wrote as a 21-year-old college student at Stanford. He disavowed those writings as an adult and has spent his career fighting for justice and safety in our community. He didn't deserve this outcome."

Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who has been closely following the judicial appointee process, called the day's development "incredible and really unusual.'' Judicial nominees are rarely withdrawn so late in the process, he said.

Wyden said he's interested in working with Republicans to find a new nominee.

Merkley said he hopes "this time the White House will engage meaningfully in consultation.''

Oregon's senators said they'll consult with the state selection committee, which had forwarded other names aside from Bounds, and the White House to determine the next steps toward recommending a future nominee.

Alliance For Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy group that brought Bounds' college writings to light, applauded the withdrawal and the efforts of Oregon's senators to block the confirmation.

"We are very glad that leadership has now concluded, as Senators Wyden and Merkley did at the beginning, that Ryan Bounds does not deserve a lifetime seat on the federal bench," alliance President Nan Aron said in a statement.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian