In response to the decision of Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley to proceed with a hearing on Trump judicial nominee Michael Brennan without receiving a blue slip from Senator Tammy Baldwin, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

“Senators who have served for as long as Senator Grassley have to give some thought to what legacy they’ll leave in the Senate. For Senator Grassley, it’s clear: his most significant accomplishment has been to degrade the Senate Judiciary Committee, to destroy the practices that have encouraged consensus and consultation, and to facilitate the ability of unfit executives to pack the federal courts with cronies and yes men.

“His decision today to move forward on the nomination of Michael Brennan is a thumb in the eye of Senator Baldwin and the longstanding bipartisan judicial selection committee in Wisconsin. That commission was set up explicitly to ensure that the best and most qualified judges would serve for life on the federal bench. But Republicans seem intent on taking a wrecking ball to every rule or practice that stands in the way of facilitating Donald Trump and Don McGahn’s dangerous and irresponsible agenda for our country. Instead of providing advice and consent, they’ve turned the Senate into a rubberstamping machine focused not on the quality of the judges, but on a ruthless adherence to ideology.

“Senator Grassley is earning his place in our history books not for standing up for Iowa or for his constituents, but for slavish devotion to Donald Trump and the party line. Congratulations.”

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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