Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today released the following statement regarding President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be a U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice just 38 days before the 2020 election: 

“This week, America passed a tragic milestone of 200,000 deaths from COVID-19. For the last four months, the U. S. Senate has refused to pass any economic aid and is instead dropping everything to install another far-right ideologue on the Supreme Court.  

“The judiciary was intended to balance the legislative and executive branches, not to undermine their will. Our environment, voting rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, and ability to organize are all on the ballot in 38 days. The approval of another extremist justice this close to an election deprives the voters – many of whom have already started voting – a say in their future.

“Since 2016, President Trump has vowed to only appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. We know Judge Barrett must have passed President Trump’s anti-women’s health litmus test to be nominated by him. It’s valid and important to question Judge Barrett’s intention to uphold precedent and our settled reproductive rights.

“With the support of Senate Republicans, President Trump is rushing to create a conservative super-majority when the Supreme Court hears challenges to the Affordable Care Act in November, and the impact on people with pre-existing conditions could be devastating. If they proceed with a rubberstamp of Judge Barrett, congressional Democrats will have no choice but to explore the option of expanding the court to create a semblance of balance within the judicial branch and ensure those who champion the rights of the majority aren’t shut out for a generation.” 

The imbalance of our courts is unmistakable. Republicans have held a continuous majority on the Supreme Court since 1970. Fifteen of the last 19 Court retirements have been filled by Republicans. President Trump and Senate Republicans have spent the past four years furthering this one-sidedness by stacking our courts with hyper-conservative – and in many cases – unqualified jurists. Nearly one-fourth of all federal judges, including two sitting Supreme Court justices, have been appointed for life by President Trump. 

Even before his nomination of Judge Barrett, President Trump has made an indelibly negative impact on the judicial branch that will stand for generations. At present, only three members of the Supreme Court were appointed by Democrats, while four were appointed by Republican Presidents who did not win the popular vote. Putting Judge Barrett on the Supreme Court will widen an ideological gulf that does not reflect the nation’s political will and further tilts the judiciary away from any reasonable midpoint. 

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