Civil and Human Rights Coalition Urges Senate Republican Leadership to Vote on Long Overdue Judicial Nominations

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights will address a rally today urging the Senate to end its obstruction and take a long overdue vote on Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The event is in support of the senators who are on the Senate Floor from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. today to call attention to the consequences of a handcuffed Supreme Court and the backlog of nominees for other federal courts. His abridged remarks are below:

“This afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid along with many members of his caucus – including Senator Booker, Senator Klobuchar and others – made a stand by taking to the floor the U.S. Senate in protest against Senate Republicans who are refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland.

We stand here today in solidarity with these senators, who are speaking for the vast majority of Americans who are sick and tired of the Republican-led Senate refusing to do its job on confirming federal judges.

Since taking over the majority last year, the Senate has confirmed a mere 22 judges to the lower courts in two years while the number of judicial vacancies has grown to 91, including 35 judicial emergencies.

As we speak, there are 25 nominees awaiting a final vote on the Senate floor, some of whom were nominated more than a year ago.

But the nomination of Merrick Garland is the most outrageous example of how Senate Republicans – starting with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley – are shirking their responsibilities.

Since 1975, Supreme Court nominees have waited an average of 67 days for a confirmation vote, and no nominee in the history of our nation has had to wait more than 125 days for confirmation.

Garland – perhaps the most qualified Supreme Court nominee in history – has now waited 194 days and still hasn’t gotten so much as a hearing!

Next week, the Supreme Court will begin a new term as it ended the last one – with only eight of nine justices on the bench. And that spells trouble for justice in our nation – more tie decisions and even non-decisions from a court that cannot function short-handed.

This is simply outrageous and cannot be allowed to continue a single day longer.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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