Dear friend,
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From the moment that he was elected, Donald Trump carefully selected and ushered through chief strategists, advisors, and department heads that would deliver on his dangerous and divisive campaign promises. In just 12 days, we have seen this regime deliver on those promises and destroy access to reproductive rights,1 detain and deport hundreds of people,2 and decimate healthcare.3
It won’t stop there. Trump has continued to build his regimeby just announcing Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court justice nominee. Trump’s promise to appoint a judge in the image of Antonin Scalia means our freedom to vote, reproductive rights, and so much more will be threatened if Judge Gorsuch is confirmed. Enough is enough. We will not sit back and watch as the rights we have fought for are swept away. Starting today, we are demanding Congressional Democrats lead a hiring freeze on Donald Trump’s nominees.
For the past eight years, we watched as the Republican party banded together and opposed President Obama at every turn. Their collective defiance led to defaulting on the national debt and blocking appointees to various bureaus.4 They even went so far as to stand up and read Green Eggs and Ham to delay the passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act.5 In fact, Antonin Scalia’s former seat on the Supreme Court remains empty because the Republicans remained strong and withheld their consent.6
We now are living in an unprecedented era where the reigning president has no mandate to rule and has nominated astonishingly unqualified and morally corrupt individuals to govern. It’s time for Senate Democrats to borrow this playbook and hold the line on not confirming Trump’s appointees. We’ve already seen the effectiveness of this collective power. Today, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotted the confirmation hearings for Steven Mnuchin and Tom Price and successfully blocked the vote from happening7 while Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also came together and used procedural tactics to stall the confirmation of known racist Jeff Sessions.8When Democrats put their foot down, we are able to delay and derail Trump’s agenda.
This Supreme Court justice nomination is particularly important to block. In this role Judge Gorsuch would reign indefinitely and make decisions whose effects would echo for a lifetime. As a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Judge Gorsuch’s record is frightening. During a time where police violence runs rampant, Judge Gorsuch ruled to protect a police officer who murdered a young man with a stun gun as he ran away from the officers.9 We cannot allow a man who refuses to hold police officers accountable to ascend to the halls of the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration has made a clear statement about his new world order. Until last Sunday, the “Our Government” section on the White House website listed “The Judicial Branch” alongside the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch.10 The Judicial Branch was deleted from the site. We cannot allow Trump to delete the very checks and balances that exist to create justice and protect our rights.
The Supreme Court has afforded us the right to marry who we love, go to the schools of our choice, be appointed a lawyer, and has safeguarded the right to protest. We’ve watched as our most basic rights have quickly been placed in jeopardy by Trump’s cabinet. And we’ve taken to the streets11 and airports12 armed with these rights to let our voices be heard. Without a Supreme Court justice on our side, the rights that we now enjoy can quickly be rolled away and replaced with discrimination. We cannot allow Trump to insert another one of his cronies into our government and usurp the power of the judiciary.
Until justice is real,
Arisha, Rashad, Brandi, Anika, Jade, Evan, Bernard, Corina, the rest of the Color Of Change team
References :
- "Trump's global gag rule hurts the world's most vulnerable women." The Hill, 31 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7387?t=9&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- "Of Course It’s a Muslim Ban." Slate, 31 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7388?t=11&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- "Repealing the Affordable Care Act will kill more than 43,000 people annually." The Washington Post, 23 January 2017. https://coc.actionkit.com/go/7389?t=13&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “How Republicans turned the unprecedented into the new normal,” Daily Kos, 21 February 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7390?t=15&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “Ted Cruz Reads ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ on Senate Floor — And That’s Not the Weird Part.” Swampland, 25 September 2013.http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7391?t=17&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “McConnell : Blocking Supreme Court Nomination 'About A Principle, Not A Person’.” NPR, 13 March 2016.http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6263?t=19&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “Democrats boycott confirmation hearings for Price and Mnuchin, blocking votes.” The Washington Post, 31 January 2017.https://coc.actionkit.com/go/7392?t=21&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “Dems delay Sessions vote.” The Hill, 31 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7393?t=23&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “A LOOK AT NEIL GORSUCH, POSSIBLE TRUMP SCOTUS NOMINEE.” 21 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7394?t=25&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “Judicial branch explainer missing from WH website.” The Hill, 29 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7395?t=27&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- “Women’s March Highlights as Huge Crowds Protest Trump : ‘We’re Not Going Away’.” 21 January 2017. https://coc.actionkit.com/go/7396?t=29&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
- "Thousands of people are protesting Trump’s immigration order at airports across America." Vox, 28 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7397?t=31&akid=7143.1942551.5N6obC
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.
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