After 150 activists from 27 states met with senior Administration officials to discuss how to resolve the unprecedented vacancy crisis in our nation’s courts, they spent the afternoon visiting their senators’ offices on Capitol Hill. Democratic and Republican senators alike heard the same message from concerned Americans: Courts Matter. For those Republicans who may have thought the obstruction that is keeping our court system from functioning properly had gone unnoticed, it must have been an unpleasant surprise to learn their constituents are paying attention.

At the end of the afternoon, the activists from across the country all gathered together to discuss their meetings and steps they can take going forward to make sure that senators know their constituents recognize the importance of our nation’s courts. In addition, they also heard from and spoke with two key senior Senate staff members whose work is central to advancing nominations at each stage of the Senate process: Serena Hoy (from the office of the Senate Majority Leader) and Jeremy Paris (from the Judiciary Committee). Their commitment to getting the president’s nominations through was clear.

By the end of the day, senators from 27 states and the highest levels of Senate leadership saw the grass roots energy behind Americans’ commitment to our nation’s system of justice. And those Americans saw reflected back the leadership’s commitment to turn their energy into action in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor.