Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to start by thanking my colleague from Rhode Island for both his powerful analysis of the influence of money on the selection of our judicial nominees and also for his point about the blue slip and the implications of what this means for an independent judiciary. He has been a strong voice on this for a long time, and I think his speech on it was extraordinary and something that I hope everyone listens to and pays attention to. We are facing an unprecedented attack on our courts. This week, once again, Senator McConnell has scheduled confirmation votes on a slate of extremist judicial court nominees--nominees who have demonstrated that they are not committed to the principles of equal justice under law. In this administration, Senate Republicans have been working at breakneck speed to jam our courts with pro-corporate, narrowminded elitists who will tilt the scales of justice in favor of the rich and powerful and against everyone else. They are willing to bend and break and change every rule in the book to do it. Their latest strategy is to ignore the blue slip. For over a century, home-State Senators have played a critical role in the judicial confirmation process by using something called a blue slip to determine whether a judicial nomination should move forward. The Senate Judiciary Committee has historically refused to move forward on a nomination without a blue slip from both home-State Senators.…”