Sierra Club Statement On Senate Judiciary Vote On Patrick Wyrick

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance the nomination of Patrick Wyrick to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Wyrick maintains close ties with embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who called Wyrick a “dear friend and trusted counselor.” Wyrick has previously worked with Pruitt to undermine commonsense environmental safeguards -- including the Clean Power Plan, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and FERC’s demand-response rule -- pushed for restrictions on women’s reproductive health, attacked protections for workers, and allegedly attempted to mislead the U.S. Supreme Court during one of his cases. Wyrick also has ties to Devon Energy, a company that lobbied him while he was Oklahoma’s Solicitor General, that he held stock in previously, and that has close ties to Scott Pruitt. Wyrick was also serving on the Oklahoma Supreme Court when it blocked the release of Pruitt’s emails detailing his relationship to the coal, oil, and fracked gas industries.

In response, Sierra Club Democracy Program Director Courtney Hight released the following statement:

"Patrick Wyrick is an extreme ideologue who is unfit and unqualified to serve in the judiciary. Beyond his deep-rooted ties to scandal-plagued Scott Pruitt, Wyrick is heavily associated with those he may be asked to preside over. Should his nomination move to the Senate floor for a vote, the Senate must unquestionably reject Wyrick for this position.”