In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to send the nominations of Andrew Oldham, Michael Truncale and Wendy Vitter to the full Senate, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

“Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee has made clear that it’s more interested in acting as a rubber stamp for Donald Trump than in serving as a check on unqualified and unfit nominees. But even by that standard, today’s vote in support of three such extreme nominees is an appalling abdication of responsibility.

“Wendy Vitter, in addition to refusing to comment on whether the U.S. Constitution allows segregation of public schools, has made clear that she’s unfit for the bench by any measure. For instance, she hasn’t just spoken on panels pushing junk science, she failed to disclose those appearances to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and then, while under oath, misrepresented her comments in her testimony.

“Andrew Oldham, like Vitter, refused to affirm that Brown v. Board of Education was rightly decided, despite the fact that numerous other judicial nominees, including all nine sitting Justices on the Supreme Court were willing to do so. He’s also made clear his belief that common sense environmental, consumer and workplace safety regulations should be struck down as unconstitutional.

“Michael Truncale meanwhile, has made clear that women and LGBTQ people should have no reason to expect a fair hearing in his courtroom. He’s pushed baseless myths about widespread voter fraud and demonstrated an alarming lack of knowledge or even concern about implicit racial bias in the criminal justice system.

“Individually, each of these nominees is unworthy of a lifetime seat on the bench. Taken together, they represent an attempt to pack our courts with narrow-minded elitists who will roll back the clock on rulings that impact groups like the LGBTQ community, women, workers, and racial and ethnic minorities.”

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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