Senate Judiciary Committee Must Halt Hearings on Trump’s Extremist Judicial Nominees

WASHINGTON – Kristine Lucius, executive vice president of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on Chairman Grassley’s intent to hold Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on judicial nominations during the recess period:

“The Senate is in recess, senators are out of town, every other committee postponed their hearings, but Chairman Grassley still plans to move forward on Trump’s extremist judicial nominees over the objection of the minority party. This unprecedented maneuver is just the latest example of Grassley’s abuse of Senate tradition and Republicans’ relentless attempts to remake the federal courts in Trump’s image. Republicans have systematically reduced the important role that senators play in independently vetting lifetime appointments and are harming the federal judiciary in their haste to score partisan political points. These hearings should not go forward.”

Senate Republicans continue to abuse their power – from unilaterally changing the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees to confirm Gorsuch and Kavanaugh; to the sham process in which they failed to hold Kavanaugh accountable for his blatant misrepresentations to the Senate, multiple sexual assault allegations, and record as a White House political operative; to overturning the century-old tradition of deference to home-state senators; to stacking hearings with multiple circuit court nominees and nominees without ABA ratings.

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.