Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the hearing for Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
In just the past week, three Republican Senators, including two on the Senate Judiciary Committee, tested positive for COVID-19 following Trump’s super-spreader event announcing Barrett’s nomination. Two additional members of the committee, including Chairman Lindsey Graham, are refusing to be tested for COVID-19. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed the full Senate’s return until October 19 but is allowing the Judiciary Committee to proceed with Barrett’s hearing.
More than 210,000 Americans have died since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and a recent poll found that 74 percent of American voters want the Senate to prioritize COVID relief over confirming Trump’s Supreme Court pick.
In 2016, Mitch McConnell set the precedent for delaying a vote on a Supreme Court confirmation vote in an election year when he blocked President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, for more than 11 months.
Last week, the Sierra Club announced our formal opposition to Amy Coney Barrett.
In response, Sierra Club Democracy Program Director Courtney Hight released the following statement:
"More than 210,000 of our friends and family members have died from COVID-19, and millions more are suffering financially and emotionally by the trauma perpetuated by this pandemic. Yet Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have made it clear they don’t care about us, just as they are okay disregarding public health and safety in order to ram through Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick and cement his disastrous legacy for decades to come. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans’ inhumane actions are unacceptable. It’s past time they prioritize the nation’s pandemic recovery rather than confirming Trump’s judges.”
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Read the Sierra Club’s letter of opposition to Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.