People for The American Way

Call your senators toll-free today. Tell them End the Obstruction.

1-866-338-5720



Dear Stuart,

Today is a national call-in day to end the Republican obstruction of judicial nominees.

Please call your senators now, with the toll-free number provided, and tell them: Americans are being denied justice, the judicial branch is in crisis and the obstruction must END.

1-866-338-5720

Republicans must feel the heat from their constituents and know that their partisan obstruction is not slipping under the radar. Democrats need to know that getting the president’s nominees confirmed is a priority to their constituents and they need to do everything in their power to help break the logjam and get the federal courts working again.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he will file petitions to end Republican filibusters of 17 federal district court nominees. With this extraordinary move, Sen. Reid is putting all the chips on the table, forcing the Republicans into a decision between doing what’s right and ending the blockade of judges or holding up all Senate business for several weeks.

George W. Bush spent eight years packing the federal judiciary with far-right ideologues. Now, Republicans don’t want to let even the most uncontroversial Obama nominees on the bench, even though many of the vacancies in the federal courts have now been deemed judicial emergencies.

Tell your senators it’s time to put the president’s qualified nominees on the bench where they belong -- vote to end the filibusters.

Call toll-free: 1-866-338-5720

You can let us know how your call went with our online call report form.

Please also help spread the word and ask others to call their senators.

Thank you for your activism. Below are some statistics about the Republicans’ unprecedented obstruction.

-- Marge Baker, Executive Vice President

FACTS:
•There are now 22 total pending nominees who have been approved by the Judiciary Committee who are waiting for a simple up-or-down vote from the Senate.
•16 were approved by the Judiciary Committee with very strong bipartisan support: of these, 10 were approved without any opposition at all, and 6 were approved with only one no vote.
•11 have been waiting for three months or more for a vote from the full Senate.
•11 are nominated to fill vacancies classified as judicial emergencies.
•15 of the 22 are women or people of color and one is an openly gay man.
•While George W. Bush’s judicial nominees on average received floor votes very soon after committee approval, the opposite is true for President Obama’s nominees.
•Circuit court nominees: 28 days (Bush at this point in his term) vs. 136 days (Obama)
•District court nominees: 22 days (Bush at this point in his term) vs. 93 days (Obama)
•The level of filibusters of district court nominations is unprecedented.
•Before March 2012, cloture had only been filed on five district court nominees over the past 60 years, two of which were to end filibusters of Obama nominees. As of now, 19 of the 22 district court filibusters of the past 60 years have been against Obama nominees.