Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement this evening on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“It is a sad day for the Senate and for the Court. My Republican colleagues smashed norms and traditions of the world’s ‘greatest deliberative body’ in a headlong pursuit, for someone, of Supreme Court power. They put the rule of ‘because we can’ over the traditions and precedents of the Senate, the principles we hold dear as an institution, and the integrity of the federal judiciary.
“This Trump Supreme Court nomination, like the two that preceded it, arose from a massive, sophisticated, dark-money campaign. Big corporate and right-wing donor interests, likely with business before the Court, are behind that campaign. Their influence is a rot that undermines the credibility of the Court, and a stain on our judiciary.
“The rushed, special-interest ram job in the midst of a pandemic shows why we must expose that rot, from the private groups channeling hundreds of millions of dollars into judicial selection and confirmation, to the armada of orchestrated groups lobbying courts for outcomes the anonymous donors want.
“With this vote, my Republican colleagues forfeit their right to call procedural fouls. And they disrespect Justice Ginsburg’s ‘fervent’ wish that her replacement be chosen by the president elected on November 3rd. Republicans may rue the day they chose the rule of ‘because we can.’”
