Civil and Human Rights Coalition Opposes Continued Effort to Rush Through Unacceptable Judicial, Executive Nominees

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement today following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval of 17 judicial nominees and six executive branch nominees, including Eric Dreiband’s nomination to lead the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice:

“Chairman Grassley and his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee today continued their troubling pattern of ignoring Senate traditions to rubber stamp President Trump’s extreme and unqualified nominees. Never before has this committee jammed through so many nominees hostile to civil and human rights on a single day. Stuart Kyle Duncan, David Stras, Thomas Farr, Matthew Kacsmaryk, and Mark Norris are too ideologically extreme to serve as neutral arbiters; Charles Goodwin and Holly Teeter were rated Not Qualified to serve as federal judges by the nonpartisan and independent American Bar Association based on work ethic and lack of legal experience, respectively; and Eric Dreiband lacks the commitment to equal justice necessary to lead the federal government’s largest civil rights enforcement office.

This is not a fair process to the new committee members, who have not had a chance to advise on these nominees. These senators deserve better from Chairman Grassley. These rash actions are damaging not just to their rights but to the role that the Senate plays under the Constitution and the important vetting role that the committee has long served on behalf of the entire Senate. Our courts, and our country, deserve better.”

The Leadership Conference has previously called for senators to oppose the confirmations of judicial nominees Stuart Kyle Duncan, David Stras, Thomas Farr, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Mark Norris, Charles Goodwin, and Holly Teeter, as well as Justice Department Civil Rights Division nominee Eric Dreiband.

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.