EMILYs List Statement on Gorsuch Vote

April 6, 2017

EMILYs List Statement on Gorsuch Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the United States Senate voted not to advance the nomination of Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then upended Senate rules to invoke the nuclear option. In response, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“Judge Neil Gorsuch’s record is extremely troubling for women, families, and all Americans – and the Senate vote today was representative of those concerns. Gorsuch would be one of the most conservative appointments ever to the Supreme Court – during his tenure as a judge, he sided with corporations over average Americans and ruled against women’s access to contraception. Plus, when Gorsuch was asked to clarify his record during his nomination hearings, he refused to answer – showing disregard for the countless Americans alarmed by his record.”

“If a Supreme Court nominee can’t get the 60 votes to clear the Senate, you change the nominee – not the rules. For Republicans to invoke the nuclear option, just to ram through a radical nominee appointed by a historically unpopular president, is not just alarming – it’s un-American. Now more than ever we need a judiciary that can be an independent check on the Trump presidency. Our EMILY’s women will continue to stand up not only for people across the country alarmed by the possibility of Gorsuch’s appointment, but for our American values.”

EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have trained nearly 10,000 women to run and helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILY’s List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color – including every single Latina, African American, and Asian American Democratic congresswoman currently serving.