WASHINGTON – In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s scheduling of the vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, issued the following statement:

“We urge every senator who respects democracy to vote against the sham process of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination just two weeks before election day when our national election is already in process. Across the country, 40 million people have already voted — they are energized and know what’s at stake. We are grateful to the Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee for standing up for the American people today by boycotting the vote — and we expect other senators to show that same courage in the full senate vote next week.

Amy Coney Barrett’s well-documented opinions on Roe v. Wade and healthcare go against the majority of the public, and she is well aware that Trump is planning on using her presence in the court to side with him if the election results proceed to the Court.

Senator McConnell has had the votes necessary to support people in the worst crisis of generations. Instead, the Republicans are using their majority to deny people rights and once again show they are only interested in the pursuit and consolidation of power.

A vast majority of Americans have made it clear that the Senate should focus on providing relief to the millions of people reeling from the flailing economy, not filling a Supreme Court seat. Yet Republicans refuse to listen or care, putting their insatiable quest for power ahead of the people they vowed to serve and the Constitution they swore to uphold.

It is the courage of people who show up for one another that has defined the Trump years — people resisting at every turn. That is the courage we’re asking Democratic senators to display in this moment. We saw it in action in the Committee members’ boycott today. Now, we need others to follow suit to stand against this shameful power grab meant to circumvent and silence the voice of the people.”