In The Hill Op-ed, Civil Rights Leader Urges Senate to Reject Brennan, Preserve Checks and Balances

Courts News 05.7,18

WASHINGTON – In a The Hill op-ed, Kristine Lucius, executive vice president of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called on the U.S. Senate to reject the confirmation of Trump’s far-right judicial nominee Michael Brennan and to protect the checks and balances between Congress and the executive branch. This call for accountability follows the rejection by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of the century-old practice of home-state senator approval for judicial nominees.

“For the last century, the president’s required consultation has been enforced by a blue slip of paper given to the home state senators by the chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary,” wrote Lucius. “During the Obama administration, Republicans regularly used the blue slip process and blocked 18 of President Obama’s judicial nominations.”

The Republican-held Senate has now abandoned this practice in an attempt to stack the courts quickly with extreme Trump nominees like Brennan. His confirmation would mark the first time in decades that a circuit court judge is confirmed over the objections of a home-state senator.

Brennan’s record is deeply troubling. “Brennan, we should remember, has drawn widespread opposition for his right-wing judicial philosophy and his record as a Scott Walker crony who led a judicial selection commission for state judges and recommended individuals who made extreme and hateful anti-LGBTQ statements,” said Lucius.

The full text of the op-ed is available here.

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.