Washington, D.C. — Today, following a failed vote to move forward the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the Senate made the decision to abandon 200 years of tradition and dissolve the 60-vote threshold for appointments to the Supreme Court. Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement in response:
By voting for the nuclear option today, Senate Republicans have undermined the Senate and have become fully complicit in President Donald Trump’s anti-democratic agenda. Trump is systematically dismantling the nation’s democratic institutions. Whether by attacking the press, the intelligence community, or independent judges, Trump is eroding faith in the institutions that reinforce our very identity and way of life.
The Senate majority is now fully complicit in President Trump’s anti-democratic agenda. They will now own each of Gorsuch’s extreme decisions that further the interests of the wealthy and the powerful above the those of everyday Americans. And, ironically, those who claim to most revere the nation’s founding principles will have done them damage. All this while President Trump’s campaign is under investigation by the FBI over contacts with Russia.
The most important nominations are those of justices to the Supreme Court—the court charged with interpreting the nation’s laws and constitutional rights. These are lifetime appointments that can change the arch of justice and freedoms for all Americans. It is for that reason that nearly all modern justices have been appointed with a 60-vote threshold. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
Center for American Progress experts are available to speak on this topic. To coordinate, please contact Tanya Arditi at tarditi@americanprogress.org or 202.741.6258.
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