SAN FRANCISCO — As the debate about splitting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit continues to gather steam, President Donald Trump announced his first nominee to the court, which has been something of a thorn in his side.

Trump nominated Ryan Bounds, an assistant U.S. attorney in Portland, Oregon, and former clerk for Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Thursday morning to fill the seat left open when O'Scannlain took senior status at the end of last year.

Bounds, whose name had surfaced in association with the Ninth Circuit opening this spring, has a sterling resume. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, Bounds served at the White House as special assistant to President George W. Bush for justice and immigration policy and at the Justice Department as chief of staff and deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy. Bounds also practiced commercial law at Stoel Rives in Portland.