Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Today's Action Alert
Today's Action comes from NRDC:
Tell your senators not to prohibit filibusters of judicial nominees
Whenever a single political party controls both the White House and Congress --
as the Republicans do now -- the Senate "filibuster" (a nickname for
indefinitely extended debate) ensures that the dominant party cannot exert
undue control over the remaining branch of the federal government: the
judiciary. But Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-TN) is threatening to overturn
the longstanding Senate rule that enables 41 or more senators to use the
filibuster to prevent the confirmation of nominees to lifetime seats on the
The filibuster guarantees that a judicial nominee cannot win confirmation over
vehement minority opposition unless the nominee is supported by 60 or more
senators. This check on majority power is particularly important in the context
of judicial nominees, who receive lifetime tenure when confirmed.
Sen. Frist's attempt to eliminate the filibuster in the context of judicial
nominees is particularly unjustified, for two reasons. First, the Senate has
confirmed 205 of President Bush's 215 judicial nominees. Second, the seven
filibustered candidates subsequently renominated by President Bush have shown
that they would not decide cases impartially, but rather would use the federal
bench as a platform for advancing a political ideology that falls far outside
NRDC opposes four of the renominated candidates on account of their extreme
anti-environment views and antipathy toward conservation and public health
groups. If the filibuster is eliminated, those nominees and others like them
would receive lifetime tenure on the courts that are responsible for enforcing
the laws that protect public health and the environment.
In addition, eliminating the filibuster for judicial nominations would create a
precedent that the current majority or a future one could use to eliminate the
filibuster for legislation as well. At that point, the Senate would cease to
play its unique, moderating role in our democracy.
== What to do ==
Tell your senators to vote "No" on any measure that would prohibit filibusters
of judicial nominees.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your representative directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/. If you prefer to call your
representative, the Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.