Attorney General Bill Barr has selected U.S. attorney John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russian probe and FBI spying on the Trump campaign. It’s time for the American people to know why this partisan mess of an investigation full of false accusations against our President started.

Many residents in California are voting twice and it’s time for Secretary of State Alex Padilla to stop ignoring the problem. This flaw in their system has been an issue for years and the integrity of our elections is at stake.

This is another installment of an ongoing series of posts summarizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' views on judges and the courts.  All posts in this series can be viewed here.

On Neil Gorsuch:     Voted no.[1]

• On April 4, 2017, Senator Sanders addressed the floor of the Senate to oppose Neil Gorsuch. Sanders stated that he was basing his decision to vote no partly on the fact that he did not believe Gorsuch would vote to reverse Citizens United, or Shelby County v. Holder.[2]
• Sanders argued that changing the filibuster rule for Supreme Court Justices was inappropriate because former Majority Leader Harry Reid had declined to do that when Democrats held the Senate and that Reid understood that Supreme Court Justices were of a different magnitude than other nominees.[3]
• In a press release, Sanders stated that Gorsuch “refused to answer legitimate questions and brought the confirmation process to a new low in a thick fog of evasion.”[4]

On Brett Kavanaugh:     Voted no.[5]

• Sanders tweeted his opposition to Brett Kavanaugh on July 9, 2018, the same day as President Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh. Sanders stated that Kavanaugh would “have a profoundly negative effect on workers’ rights, women’s rights and voting rights for decades to come.”  Sanders also stated that “We must do everything we can to stop this nomination.”[6]
• On September 6, 2018, Sanders again tweeted that “We must do everything we can to defeat Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.”[7]

His opposition to President Trump’s judicial nominees:     Sanders voted to confirm 15 of the 71 judges nominated by President Trump, or around 21% of the nominees.[8]

• As of April 25, 2019, a total 71 Article III judges have received confirmation votes in the U.S. Senate since President Trump took office. All were confirmed.  This does not include 32 judges that were confirmed by voice vote.
• Sanders voted against 55 of the judges nominated by President Trump, or over 77% of the nominees.[9]
• Sanders missed one vote on a judge nominated by President Trump.[10]
• Sanders received an A- grade from Demand Justice for opposing President Trump’s judicial nominees.[11]

This is another installment of an ongoing series of posts summarizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' views on judges and the courts.  All posts in this series can be viewed here.

On Neil Gorsuch:

• In a March 28, 2018 interview on podcast, “Pod Save America,” Biden stated “I would work like the devil if I were in the Senate, if we had a Democratic Senate, to keep [another] Gorsuch from going on the court again. The single most damaging thing thus far, short of what may happen to our foreign policy, to all the things I care about, was Gorsuch going to the court.”^[1]

On Brett Kavanaugh:

• In a written statement on the September 29, 2018 hearings of Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Biden wrote, “What we witnessed yesterday from the Republican Judiciary Committee members was a degree of invective, blind rage and brute partisanship that threatens not only the Senate and the Supreme Court — it threatens the basic faith in fairness and justice that binds this country together.”^[2]
• Biden voted “No” for Brett Kavanaugh’s DC Circuit Court confirmation on May 26, 2006.[3]

His opposition to Trump’s judicial nominees:

• Of all of President Trump’s appointees to the Court of Appeals, only one was a district court judge who had a roll call vote when Biden was a Senator.  Biden voted ‘Yes.’[4]
• Of all the current district court judges appointed by President Trump, Joe Biden prevented one from becoming a judge by not offering timely senatorial “blue slip” approval of a candidate from Delaware.[5]

This is another installment of an ongoing series of posts summarizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' views on judges and the courts.  All posts in this series can be viewed here.

On Neil Gorsuch:      Voted No.[1]

• “I will be opposing Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, every step of the way as his nomination moves through the Senate. Requiring 60 Senate votes is not something new for Supreme Court nominees to overcome. It helps ensure that presidents seek nominees whose views are in the mainstream. And make no mistake: Judge Gorsuch is out of the mainstream.” [2]
• “Based on what I have read of his past rulings and statements, I believe that Judge Gorsuch's interpretation of the Constitution falls far outside of the mainstream and I question whether he will put the interests of working families in New Jersey and throughout the country before those of big corporations, or adequately protect the rights of women, minorities, and our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Any Supreme Court nominee must possess a judicial philosophy and track record that promotes the equal rights of all people and shows an understanding of how the Court's decisions impact the lives of everyday Americans -- I will hold Judge Gorsuch and all future nominees to this fundamental standard.” [3]

On Brett Kavanaugh:      Voted No. [4]

• Stated that those who support Justice Kavanaugh are “complicit in the evil,” stating “I’m here to call on folks to understand that in a moral moment, there is no neutral. In a moral moment, there is no bystanders. You are either complicit in the evil, you are either contributing to the wrong, or you are fighting against it.” [5]
• Released confidential documents from Justice Kavanaugh’s time as White House Counsel, declaring “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.” [6]
• Demanded his Twitter followers flood the Senate with phone calls opposing the nomination, stating that “the time to call your senators is now. #StopKavanaugh #BelieveSurvivors.” [7]
• Stated that Justice Kavanaugh “has an immensely troubling record on issues that impact everyday Americans. President Trump has been clear about his intent to nominate only justices that support overturning Roe v. Wade, and there’s no question Judge Kavanaugh has passed this litmus test. He’s demonstrated a hostility to the Affordable Care Act that the Trump administration is continually working to undermine. And his decisions show a clear favoritism toward corporations over workers trying to organize for better wages and working conditions.” [8]

His opposition to Trump’s Judicial Nominees:      Senator Booker has only supported 13% of President Trump’s judicial nominations. [9]

• Has asked judicial nominees about their religious beliefs, including whether certain behaviors “are a sin.” [10]
• Under the Obama administration, Senator Booker called on Republicans to speed up the confirmation process due to the crisis in the courts: “Today’s vote couldn’t come at a more urgent time—Judge Martinotti’s nomination has been pending in the Senate for over a year, and 24 other judicial nominations are still pending before the Senate while 83 federal judgeships sit vacant nationwide. We simply cannot expect our federal judicial system to function as intended when these critical positions are left vacant for months and years at a time. It’s past time for Senate Republican leadership to bring the rest of the Senate’s pending judicial nominations up for a vote, including that of Judge Julien Neals.” [11]

This is another installment of an ongoing series of posts summarizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' views on judges and the courts.  All posts in this series can be viewed here.

On Neil Gorsuch:     Voted No.[1]  

• “They stole a Supreme Court seat, and they’ve installed union-buster Neil Gorsuch on the bench. And now their investment is paying off.” [2]
• “Republicans and their billionaire buddies have pushed through judges like Justice Gorsuch to rig the system against workers. They can use a stolen Supreme Court seat to try to break the backs of unions and deliver punch after punch to working people—but we will fight back.” [3]

On Brett Kavanaugh:     Voted No. [4]

• “He is the ‘trifecta’ for Trump, someone who will be committed to overturning Roe v. Wade, someone who will be committed to rolling back health care for millions of Americans, and someone who, it looks pretty likely, will help Donald Trump if he gets into serious criminal trouble." [5]
• “Brett Kavanaugh's record as a judge and lawyer is clear: hostile to health care for millions, opposed to the CFPB & corporate accountability, thinks Presidents like Trump are above the law – and conservatives are confident that he would overturn Roe v. Wade. I'll be voting no.” [6]

Her opposition to Trump’s judicial nominees:     Voted against Trump judicial nominations 81% of the time.[7]    

• In a Senate floor speech, she stated “President Trump has been all in, nominating extreme and partisan judges to the federal judiciary at lightning speed.  Trump judges can easily fill a who’s who of radical, right-wing, pro-corporate lawyers….” [8]
• “Republicans know that every time they try to lock voters out of the democratic process, they will be challenged in the courts.  But they have a plan for that.  They have been working at breakneck speed to stack federal courts with a cadre of conservative federal judges whose record show they have no intention of protecting our democracy.” [9]

This is another installment of an ongoing series of posts summarizing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' views on judges and the courts.  All posts in this series can be viewed here.

On Brett Kavanaugh:

• When asked if he would have voted to confirm Justice Kavanaugh during a 10/9/2018 interview on MSNBC, Beto O’Rourke stated, “I would not have . . . we need a Supreme Court justice who believes in voting rights. In a state where you can be fired for being gay, [we need] a Supreme Court justice who believes in civil rights.”[1]

On Neil Gorsuch:

• When asked about whether he would have supported the nomination of Justice Gorsuch in a 03/31/17 interview with the Washington Post, O’Rourke said he would not have, explaining “I’m concerned about his [Gorsuch’s] rulings that favor business interest . . . I’m concerned about his lack of support for voting rights, and what seems like his indifference to the impact of undisclosed money on our democracy.”[2]

His Opposition to Trump’s Nominees:

• During the 04/01/2019 “We the People” Summit, O’Rourke stated, “Our next Supreme Court Justices and everyone nominated to a federal bench should believe in a woman’s right to make her own decisions.”[3]

On April 5th, Congressman Doug Collins addressed the RNLA’s National Policy Conference in Washington, DC. Rep. Collins, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, shared a number of insights related to his experiences legislating and promoting the conservative message in his district.

House Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are voting to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. This is nothing more than political theater and a waste of Congress’ time.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee recently announced their plans to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt.