Civil and Human Rights Coalition Condemns Leader McConnell’s Play on Judicial Nominees

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on four circuit court nominees today:

“Mitch McConnell’s actions today to jam through four controversial appellate court nominees is dangerous and belittles the Senate’s role in analyzing the records of these powerful lifetime appointments. Half of the nominees he is trying to jam through were considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee just this morning, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has said one of those seats does not even need to be filled.

In a week where the American people saw some Republican senators put country before party, McConnell clearly wants to change the script. He wants to focus the Senate’s attention on serving as a rubber stamp for the president. McConnell, after relentlessly obstructing President Obama’s well-qualified judicial nominees, is doing President Trump’s political bidding in an attempt to pack the courts with extremists.

Judicial nominees must be committed to respecting the rule of law, the Constitution, and our core American values of justice, fairness, and inclusivity. Nominees who fail to meet this basic test must be rejected. President Trump’s four appellate nominees are well outside of the mainstream and threaten to enable and embolden the Trump administration’s assault on civil and human rights.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is 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 member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.