Washington, D.C. — Across the country, organizations are holding a day of action today, urging Congress to hold a final vote on judicial nominees before going home for the year and ending the congressional session. States participating include Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Specifically, these organizations are calling on Congress to hold a final vote, which would only take minutes, on outstanding court nominations for the 25 lower-court nominees who have already been fully vetted, approved by their home-state senators via their blue slips, and voted out of the Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.
While the unprecedented blockade of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court is the most visible vacancy, the past year has seen unprecedented levels of judicial obstruction and a record for the least amount of judges confirmed to benches that are in desperate need of filling to ensure access to justice for all Americans. In turn, this has created backlogs in criminal and civil cases alike, resulting in lack of efficiency and a waste of resources.
“After the 2008 election, zero Bush nominees were left on the Senate floor. Meanwhile, the current Senate leadership hasn’t confirmed a single judicial nominee in more than five months, apparently hoping to leave 25 Obama nominees stranded,” said Anisha Singh, Legal Progress Campaign Manager at the Center for American Progress. “These nominees have been waiting too long, despite the bipartisan approval of their qualifications. The Senate should do their job and hold a final vote for these 25 nominees, as well as a hearing and vote on Judge Garland.”
Representatives from local organizations are available to speak to press on this topic and their specific actions. To coordinate, please contact Tanya Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.