Sign this petition re: the Trump and McConnell court nominee

Sign the petition to tell your senators to reject Justin Walker's nomination.

Dear MoveOn member,

Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell's attempts to pack the courts with lifetime appointees who are unqualified to serve the American people may restart as early as next week. We cannot allow the American judicial system to descend even further because of their partisan politicking.

McConnell is calling the Senate back into session during a global pandemic, but instead of focusing on helping the people who are struggling during this public health crisis, he is working to install his political crony, Justin Walker, into a powerful lifetime role on the federal bench.¹ As he is only 37 years old now, Walker could sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for decades to come.

Tell your senators to reject Justin Walker's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Justin Walker's nomination is a triumph of nepotism over neutrality. Mitch McConnell, Walker's political patron, is rewarding Walker by advancing him to a D.C. Circuit judgeship that will not even become vacant until September. Tell your senators to reject Walker's nomination.

 

Walker is an extreme right-wing ideologue whose zealous opposition to health care access and relentless, hyperpartisan advocacy for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court would stand out at any moment in time. Donald Trump and McConnell's shameful move to advance this nomination right now is especially irresponsible amid the worst public health emergency this nation has faced in more than a century.

As a partisan operative, Walker helped lead the lobbying campaign for Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. He lauded Kavanaugh for providing a ''roadmap'' to overturn the Affordable Care Act.² And he made well over 100 media appearances to praise and defend Kavanaugh between June and October 2018.³

The influential D.C. Circuit decides important cases that impact our lives. From civil rights protections to issues of national security, some of the most significant issues of our time hinge on the decisions of the D.C. Circuit.

Only a few short months ago, Walker was nominated and confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, despite his far-right record and the American Bar Association's determination that he was unqualified for the position because of his embarrassing lack of trial and litigation experience.⁴ Now, just months later, McConnell is fast-tracking Walker to the powerful D.C. Circuit because of their close relationship.

Of Trump's 56 appellate nominations, just 11 are women, only one is Latinx, and none are African American. His district court nominees are similarly nondiverse. Walker's nomination only worsens Trump's record on judicial diversity.

Tell your senators to reject Walker's nomination.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Vanita Gupta, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Sources:

1. "Senate Republicans eye confirmation hearing for McConnell protégé next week," Politico, April 28, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/121978?t=10&akid=263152%2E10220574%2Ep2mtUn

2. "Meet the Next Brett Kavanaugh," The Nation, April 6, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/121979?t=12&akid=263152%2E10220574%2Ep2mtUn

3. "Trump taps former Kavanaugh clerk to fill vacancy on powerful D.C. appeals court," The Washington Post,
April 3, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/121980?t=14&akid=263152%2E10220574%2Ep2mtUn

4. Ibid.

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