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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talks with Justin Walker before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Walker's nomination for U.S. district judge for the Western District of Kentucky on July 31, 2019. (Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
In spite of public pressure on Congress to prioritize providing more relief to Americans impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday advanced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump's right-wing takeover of the federal judiciary by confirming Justin Walker to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Walker is a U.S. district judge in Kentucky who previously interned for McConnell (R-Ky.) and clerked for Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Advocacy groups against Walker's nomination to the nation's second-highest court highlighted his record of opposing the Affordable Care Act and warned that his confirmation "in the middle of a pandemic is beyond dangerous. It's deadly."
\u201cAnd now 51 Republicans voted to confirm this anti-health care nominee to a lifetime seat on the second highest court in America. Another shameful step in the McConnell/Trump takeover of our judiciary.\u201d— Demand Justice (@Demand Justice) 1592505618
The 51-42 vote to confirm the 38-year-old to a lifetime appointment fell mostly along party lines; seven senators did not vote and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection in November, was the only Republican to side with all the Democrats present and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) in opposing Walker.
"Every Senate Republican who voted for Walker knowingly abandoned the health and well-being of their constituents, and we won't forget it," Alliance for Justice declared after the vote. The group was among those that pressured senators to #StopWalker, citing his record on healthcare and the current crisis.
"Walker praised Kavanaugh for writing a 'roadmap' to gut the ACA and called the SCOTUS decision upholding the ACA 'catastrophic," Alliance for Justice tweeted shortly before his confirmation. "This is not what protecting our healthcare looks like."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) made a similar point in a floor speech earlier this week. Sharing a video of his remarks on Twitter, Brown called out McConnell for pushing through a vote on his protege "instead of helping families stay safe" during a pandemic.
\u201cInstead of helping families stay safe, McConnell is pushing through his right-wing prot\u00e9g\u00e9 for a lifetime court appointment.\n \nJustin Walker\u2019s made it clear he WILL do McConnell's bidding and vote to take away Americans\u2019 health care in the middle of a pandemic. #StopWalker\u201d— Sherrod Brown (@Sherrod Brown) 1592427408
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, has also spoken out against Walker over the past several months. On Thursday, she noted that his confirmation came as the Senate continued to ignore calls for police reform, a vote on House-approved Covid-19 relief, or important civil rights bills.
\u201cBREAKING: Senate just confirmed Justin Walker (Mitch McConnell\u2019s former intern) to a lifetime seat on the DC Circuit \u2013 a seat that won't be vacant until September.\n\nNo vote on police reform.\nNo vote on the HEROES Act.\nNo action on important civil rights bills.\n\nIt's disgraceful.\u201d— Vanita Gupta (@Vanita Gupta) 1592504589
Walker will fill a seat on the federal appeals court in D.C. held by Judge Thomas Griffith, who is retiring in September. As Common Dreams reported last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) indicated during a radio interview that he is joining McConnell's campaign to push older federal judges to retire early as a way to ensure that Trump will be able to nominate their successors before the November election.
"This is an historic opportunity. We've put over 200 federal judges on the bench. I think one in five federal judges are Trump appointees," Graham, who chairs the chamber's judiciary committee, told radio host Hugh Hewitt. "So if you're a circuit judge in your mid-60s, late 60s, you can take senior status, now would be a good time to do that if you want to make sure the judiciary is right of center."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights noted Thursday that in addition to holding a vote on Walker, McConnell also moved forward with another Trump nominee--Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson, whose confirmation vote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is expected next week.
"Wilson has a record of deep hostility to civil rights," the group tweeted. "The country is calling for equal justice, and Wilson's nomination is antithetical to that. #StopWilson."
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In spite of public pressure on Congress to prioritize providing more relief to Americans impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday advanced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump's right-wing takeover of the federal judiciary by confirming Justin Walker to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Walker is a U.S. district judge in Kentucky who previously interned for McConnell (R-Ky.) and clerked for Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Advocacy groups against Walker's nomination to the nation's second-highest court highlighted his record of opposing the Affordable Care Act and warned that his confirmation "in the middle of a pandemic is beyond dangerous. It's deadly."
\u201cAnd now 51 Republicans voted to confirm this anti-health care nominee to a lifetime seat on the second highest court in America. Another shameful step in the McConnell/Trump takeover of our judiciary.\u201d— Demand Justice (@Demand Justice) 1592505618
The 51-42 vote to confirm the 38-year-old to a lifetime appointment fell mostly along party lines; seven senators did not vote and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection in November, was the only Republican to side with all the Democrats present and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) in opposing Walker.
"Every Senate Republican who voted for Walker knowingly abandoned the health and well-being of their constituents, and we won't forget it," Alliance for Justice declared after the vote. The group was among those that pressured senators to #StopWalker, citing his record on healthcare and the current crisis.
"Walker praised Kavanaugh for writing a 'roadmap' to gut the ACA and called the SCOTUS decision upholding the ACA 'catastrophic," Alliance for Justice tweeted shortly before his confirmation. "This is not what protecting our healthcare looks like."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) made a similar point in a floor speech earlier this week. Sharing a video of his remarks on Twitter, Brown called out McConnell for pushing through a vote on his protege "instead of helping families stay safe" during a pandemic.
\u201cInstead of helping families stay safe, McConnell is pushing through his right-wing prot\u00e9g\u00e9 for a lifetime court appointment.\n \nJustin Walker\u2019s made it clear he WILL do McConnell's bidding and vote to take away Americans\u2019 health care in the middle of a pandemic. #StopWalker\u201d— Sherrod Brown (@Sherrod Brown) 1592427408
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, has also spoken out against Walker over the past several months. On Thursday, she noted that his confirmation came as the Senate continued to ignore calls for police reform, a vote on House-approved Covid-19 relief, or important civil rights bills.
\u201cBREAKING: Senate just confirmed Justin Walker (Mitch McConnell\u2019s former intern) to a lifetime seat on the DC Circuit \u2013 a seat that won't be vacant until September.\n\nNo vote on police reform.\nNo vote on the HEROES Act.\nNo action on important civil rights bills.\n\nIt's disgraceful.\u201d— Vanita Gupta (@Vanita Gupta) 1592504589
Walker will fill a seat on the federal appeals court in D.C. held by Judge Thomas Griffith, who is retiring in September. As Common Dreams reported last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) indicated during a radio interview that he is joining McConnell's campaign to push older federal judges to retire early as a way to ensure that Trump will be able to nominate their successors before the November election.
"This is an historic opportunity. We've put over 200 federal judges on the bench. I think one in five federal judges are Trump appointees," Graham, who chairs the chamber's judiciary committee, told radio host Hugh Hewitt. "So if you're a circuit judge in your mid-60s, late 60s, you can take senior status, now would be a good time to do that if you want to make sure the judiciary is right of center."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights noted Thursday that in addition to holding a vote on Walker, McConnell also moved forward with another Trump nominee--Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson, whose confirmation vote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is expected next week.
"Wilson has a record of deep hostility to civil rights," the group tweeted. "The country is calling for equal justice, and Wilson's nomination is antithetical to that. #StopWilson."
In spite of public pressure on Congress to prioritize providing more relief to Americans impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday advanced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump's right-wing takeover of the federal judiciary by confirming Justin Walker to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Walker is a U.S. district judge in Kentucky who previously interned for McConnell (R-Ky.) and clerked for Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Advocacy groups against Walker's nomination to the nation's second-highest court highlighted his record of opposing the Affordable Care Act and warned that his confirmation "in the middle of a pandemic is beyond dangerous. It's deadly."
\u201cAnd now 51 Republicans voted to confirm this anti-health care nominee to a lifetime seat on the second highest court in America. Another shameful step in the McConnell/Trump takeover of our judiciary.\u201d— Demand Justice (@Demand Justice) 1592505618
The 51-42 vote to confirm the 38-year-old to a lifetime appointment fell mostly along party lines; seven senators did not vote and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection in November, was the only Republican to side with all the Democrats present and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) in opposing Walker.
"Every Senate Republican who voted for Walker knowingly abandoned the health and well-being of their constituents, and we won't forget it," Alliance for Justice declared after the vote. The group was among those that pressured senators to #StopWalker, citing his record on healthcare and the current crisis.
"Walker praised Kavanaugh for writing a 'roadmap' to gut the ACA and called the SCOTUS decision upholding the ACA 'catastrophic," Alliance for Justice tweeted shortly before his confirmation. "This is not what protecting our healthcare looks like."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) made a similar point in a floor speech earlier this week. Sharing a video of his remarks on Twitter, Brown called out McConnell for pushing through a vote on his protege "instead of helping families stay safe" during a pandemic.
\u201cInstead of helping families stay safe, McConnell is pushing through his right-wing prot\u00e9g\u00e9 for a lifetime court appointment.\n \nJustin Walker\u2019s made it clear he WILL do McConnell's bidding and vote to take away Americans\u2019 health care in the middle of a pandemic. #StopWalker\u201d— Sherrod Brown (@Sherrod Brown) 1592427408
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, has also spoken out against Walker over the past several months. On Thursday, she noted that his confirmation came as the Senate continued to ignore calls for police reform, a vote on House-approved Covid-19 relief, or important civil rights bills.
\u201cBREAKING: Senate just confirmed Justin Walker (Mitch McConnell\u2019s former intern) to a lifetime seat on the DC Circuit \u2013 a seat that won't be vacant until September.\n\nNo vote on police reform.\nNo vote on the HEROES Act.\nNo action on important civil rights bills.\n\nIt's disgraceful.\u201d— Vanita Gupta (@Vanita Gupta) 1592504589
Walker will fill a seat on the federal appeals court in D.C. held by Judge Thomas Griffith, who is retiring in September. As Common Dreams reported last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) indicated during a radio interview that he is joining McConnell's campaign to push older federal judges to retire early as a way to ensure that Trump will be able to nominate their successors before the November election.
"This is an historic opportunity. We've put over 200 federal judges on the bench. I think one in five federal judges are Trump appointees," Graham, who chairs the chamber's judiciary committee, told radio host Hugh Hewitt. "So if you're a circuit judge in your mid-60s, late 60s, you can take senior status, now would be a good time to do that if you want to make sure the judiciary is right of center."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights noted Thursday that in addition to holding a vote on Walker, McConnell also moved forward with another Trump nominee--Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson, whose confirmation vote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is expected next week.
"Wilson has a record of deep hostility to civil rights," the group tweeted. "The country is calling for equal justice, and Wilson's nomination is antithetical to that. #StopWilson."