ACS President Statement on Confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court

Washington, D.C. – Today Judge Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

ACS President Caroline Fredrickson made the following statement:

“The nomination process for the Supreme Court is broken. When the Republican Senate majority couldn’t win by the rules, they changed them. First, the Senate majority stole Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s seat. For President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, the Republican majority said there would be no courtesy meetings, no hearing, and no vote. After holding the ninth seat open for a year, they rushed through the confirmation proceedings for Judge Gorsuch. Finally, in another power play, they changed longstanding senate rules in place to give the minority a voice – a tenet of our democracy – by invoking the nuclear option.  Politics reigned supreme over justice in this case. So what happens next time? Today’s largely single-party confirmation of a lifetime appointment sets a dangerous precedent.”

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS), founded in 2001 and one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations, is a rapidly growing network of lawyers, law students, scholars, judges, policymakers and other concerned individuals dedicated to making the law a force to improve lives of all people. For more information about the organization or to locate one of the more than 200 lawyer and law student chapters in 48 states, please visit www.acslaw.org.