Advocates: #WeObject to Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court Nomination
This week, U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Neil Gorsuch began in Washington, D.C. Gorsuch was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 31.
Judge Gorsuch has a reputation of conservatism on the bench, equal to or perhaps even greater than the late Justice Antonin Scalia he was nominated to replace. According to Rewire‘s Jessica Mason Pieklo, there is also “nothing in Gorsuch’s record as a judge that suggests he would push back on [Trump’s executive] overreach,” leaving advocates concerned he would act as a “rubber stamp” for the Trump administration’s looming discriminatory policies. “Trump’s team,” wrote Pieklo, “is counting on Democrats and the public to be overwhelmed and unable to resist each executive overreach and crony cabinet choice.”
However, since the night Gorsuch was nominated for a seat on the United States’ highest court of law, citizens, advocates, and politicians have put forth a sustained resistance—often on the very steps of Gorsuch’s potential new office. The People’s Defense, a coalition including NARAL Pro-Choice America, End Citizens United, and MoveOn.org, delivered more than one million petition letters to U.S. senators this Wednesday urging them to vote “no” on Gorsuch’s nomination. Rewire was there to document the coalition’s efforts.