As the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded a rushed hearing to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, AFSCME President Lee Saunders urged the full Senate to reject President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and instead allow the American people to decide who should fill that vacancy.
“Judge Amy Coney Barrett failed to demonstrate that she will be a fair-minded justice who will protect the rights and freedoms of everyone, not just the wealthy and the privileged few,” Saunders said in a statement.
“Instead, she will further tilt the court against working people, using her extreme judicial views to do the bidding of corporations and ideological special interests. With Judge Coney Barrett on the court, critical health care protections, voting rights, workers’ rights and LGBTQ rights, among others, will be on the chopping block,” he added.
Rejecting Coney Barrett is about more than rejecting a Supreme Court nominee who holds views that favor corporations and undermine the rights of working people. It’s about rejecting a sham confirmation process designed to place a judge who has expressed opinions in support of overturning the Affordable Care Act on the nation’s highest court.
The confirmation hearings are happening while the crucial work of helping millions of people suffering from the pandemic is not happening – thanks to Trump and Senate Republicans, who are led by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“It’s unconscionable that Mitch McConnell and his caucus have disregarded the suffering of millions of Americans, refusing for months to pass COVID-19 aid, while steamrolling this nominee through the process in order to rip away health care and protections for preexisting conditions from millions of Americans during a pandemic,” said Saunders.
Rather than confirm Coney Barrett, the Senate should listen to the American people, millions of whom are already voting for the next president, and allow the winner of the presidential race to nominate Ginsburg’s successor early next year.