WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate’s vote to confirm Judge Justin Walker to the prestigious Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is a shameful example of how Mitch McConnell has turned the U.S. Senate into a right-wing confirmation factory for unqualified, inexperienced, extremist federal judges. Judge Walker is in many ways the worst of the worst.
He’s called the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its’ individual mandate an “indefensible position” and “catastrophic. “
He praised his mentor Brett Kavanaugh’s vote to allow religiously affiliated employers to opt-out of providing standard birth control coverage to their employees. He’s also lauded Kavanaugh for being a “warrior” during his hearing process, calling Kavanaugh the victim, not the women who accused him of sexual assault.
He wants to limit the federal government’s ability to protect women, civil rights, and workers.
He has just seven months experience on a federal bench.
Now, Justin Walker will take a seat on the court that’s regarded as the most important in the country, after the Supreme Court—and one that’s traditionally been a pipeline to the nation’s highest court.
NOW is committed to opposing judicial nominees who share Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s contempt for the rights of women, particularly their constitutional right to reproductive healthcare. We have our sights on the next election, where we can evict Mitch McConnell from the Majority Leader’s chair and elect a new, progressive, feminist Senate. Today’s shameful vote to confirm Justin Walker reminds us that the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher.