Ninth Circuit Court Split:

As a part of the House Budget Committee??¢â???¬â???¢s package of mandatory spending cuts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could be split to save up to $16 million in annual operating expenses, much to Sen. Dianne Feinstein??¢â???¬â???¢s chagrin (D-Calif.) The Ninth Circuit is slated be made up of California, Hawaii, Guam and the North Marianas Islands, while Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Alaska will become members of a new Twelfth Circuit Court. The proposal has been stamped by the House Judiciary Committee in a previous stand-alone bill. The California senator vowed to raise a point of order on the Senate floor if the proposal is included in the final Budget Reconciliation report because it unfairly divvies up caseload between the two courts.