To: The United States Senate
Block Right-Wing Supreme Court Appointments
We call on Democratic senators to immediately state their intention to block, by filibuster if necessary, any right-wing Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. We have your back and will strongly support you in this critically important action.
Why is this important?
Many people are still in shock that, defying all the predictions, Trump and the Republicans won the White House, the Senate and the House. At least one can hope for some relief in two or four years if Democrats, Independents and disillusioned Trump supporters ‘throw some of the bums out’.
The much bigger threat lies with the Supreme Court where Trump will certainly nominate an extreme right judge to fill the Scalia vacancy. This and a likely Ginsburg replacement during Trump’s term will drastically alter the Court for decades to come.
We can expect this Court to repeal Roe v. Wade; weaken the rights of women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community; further disenfranchise blacks, Hispanics and all minorities; favor big business over workers and unions; continue Citizens United and facilitate the buying of elections by the rich; support fossil fuels, hinder alternate energy and ignore the threat of climate change…. to name a few!
This threat should not have happened. Antonin Scalia died on Feb 13, 2016 at the age of 79. In March President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, to fill the vacancy. However, Republican Senate leaders, in an unprecedented move, refused to hold a vote on the nominee until a new president was elected. Mitch McConnell said, "The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let's give them a voice. Let's let the American people decide.”
Republican control of the Senate means that, unlike Garland's nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings and the Republican-controlled Senate will schedule a vote. As long as Republican senators remain loyal to the party, the thin majority they hold should be able to confirm Trump's nominees.
That leaves Democrats with one alternative - a filibuster. If the Democrats do resort to this parliamentary tactic, which hasn't been employed against a Court nominee since 1968, they will be able to block a nomination, again assuming that they have the party discipline to hold on to their members and prevent the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
We must urge Democratic senators to immediately state their intention to block, by filibuster if necessary, any right wing Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. This stance is easy to explain using the very logic the Republicans used to block Obama’s appointment.
While Trump garnered the most Electoral College votes, he did not win the support of the majority of Americans. He lost to Clinton by almost 3 million votes (48% to 46%). Americans have spoken, and Trump’s support does not meet Mitch McConnell's and the GOP’s standard.
Note that at the time the Republicans said Obama lacked popular support to make the appointment, he had beaten Romney by 5 million votes (51% to 47%) and had an approval rating of 55%.
We call on Democratic senators to immediately state their intention to block, by filibuster if necessary, any right wing Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. We have your back. We will strongly support you in this critically important action.
The much bigger threat lies with the Supreme Court where Trump will certainly nominate an extreme right judge to fill the Scalia vacancy. This and a likely Ginsburg replacement during Trump’s term will drastically alter the Court for decades to come.
We can expect this Court to repeal Roe v. Wade; weaken the rights of women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community; further disenfranchise blacks, Hispanics and all minorities; favor big business over workers and unions; continue Citizens United and facilitate the buying of elections by the rich; support fossil fuels, hinder alternate energy and ignore the threat of climate change…. to name a few!
This threat should not have happened. Antonin Scalia died on Feb 13, 2016 at the age of 79. In March President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, to fill the vacancy. However, Republican Senate leaders, in an unprecedented move, refused to hold a vote on the nominee until a new president was elected. Mitch McConnell said, "The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let's give them a voice. Let's let the American people decide.”
Republican control of the Senate means that, unlike Garland's nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings and the Republican-controlled Senate will schedule a vote. As long as Republican senators remain loyal to the party, the thin majority they hold should be able to confirm Trump's nominees.
That leaves Democrats with one alternative - a filibuster. If the Democrats do resort to this parliamentary tactic, which hasn't been employed against a Court nominee since 1968, they will be able to block a nomination, again assuming that they have the party discipline to hold on to their members and prevent the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
We must urge Democratic senators to immediately state their intention to block, by filibuster if necessary, any right wing Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. This stance is easy to explain using the very logic the Republicans used to block Obama’s appointment.
While Trump garnered the most Electoral College votes, he did not win the support of the majority of Americans. He lost to Clinton by almost 3 million votes (48% to 46%). Americans have spoken, and Trump’s support does not meet Mitch McConnell's and the GOP’s standard.
Note that at the time the Republicans said Obama lacked popular support to make the appointment, he had beaten Romney by 5 million votes (51% to 47%) and had an approval rating of 55%.
We call on Democratic senators to immediately state their intention to block, by filibuster if necessary, any right wing Trump appointment to the Supreme Court. We have your back. We will strongly support you in this critically important action.