Washington, D.C. — After the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s meeting today to advance the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, Neera Tanden, CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, issued the following statement:
This illegitimate process has only confirmed that the purpose is to advance President Donald Trump’s political agenda, even as millions of Americans atre voting against him. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R) spent much of his time during the hearings openly denouncing the Affordable Care Act, and Trump’s nominee did nothing to contradict her record of advocacy for overturning it at every opportunity. Even with this rushed process that allowed no serious scrutiny of her record, the press uncovered further repugnant evidence of her career advocating for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, evidence that she failed to disclose to the Senate.
The Supreme Court is supposed to be about principle, fairness, and justice. All of these were crumpled up and thrown in the trash this week with the active encouragement of the nominee herself. Replacing the iconic Ruth Bader Ginsburg with her polar opposite, who would vote to overturn her life’s work, would mark a dangerous, severe swing on the Supreme Court, all just days before Election Day.
Republicans have made a routine of creating new rules for themselves whenever it suits them, and the consequences for the American people—from health care, to Roe v. Wade, to LGBTQ rights, to equality for women and people of color—will be profound for decades. The era of Republicans cynically treating the Supreme Court as a tool for their political agenda, which they cannot pass through Congress because the American people overwhelmingly oppose it, must come to an end.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].