Washington, D.C. — After the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines 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 rushed and illegitimate process is an insult to the American people and fundamentally changes the nature of the Supreme Court from one of fairness and justice to an arm of the Republican political agenda. Senate Republicans want the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act in a case the high court will hear just one week after the election. This comes despite 10 years of the American people standing up to block Republican repeal efforts in Congress. They also want to overturn or weaken Roe v. Wade, a precedent that has stood for nearly half a century to recognize the right of women to control their own bodies. This is only the beginning of an agenda that Republicans could never pass through Congress but now want the Supreme Court to accomplish for them.
Virtually every Republican senator on the committee—and the nominee herself—claimed that President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland was too close to an election when it was nine months out. We are now 12 days from the election. They claimed the swing in the balance of the court was too great, and now they are rushing through a replacement for one of America’s most legendary champions for women and justice with a nominee who embraces being her polar opposite. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has broken the Senate, he has broken the Supreme Court, and in conjunction with President Donald Trump, he has broken our democracy. All of them must be fixed if our country’s values are to be sustained.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].