Statement of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders Executive Director Janson Wu on Trump’s Rush to Fill Justice Ginsburg’s Supreme Court Seat

With today’s announced nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just one week ago, President Trump is rushing forward with a process that will only create more polarization and division in our country and damage the credibility of the Court.

While it is the purview of the president to nominate a justice, and of the Senate to confirm, it is also the design of our democracy that the American people have a say in that choice through the regular election of the president and the members of the Senate. Voting is already under way in this election and the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice should be made by the next President.

The decision of who will take a lifetime seat on our nation’s highest court is of critical importance to all of us, and the U.S. Senate has a responsibility to vet in exacting detail anyone who seeks that role, whether it is Amy Coney Barrett or someone else. This is not a process that should be rushed through for political gain.

Justice Ginsburg leaves a legacy of integrity, disciplined legal thinking, and a conviction that our Constitution is there to protect the rights of all. The next Associate Justice to take her seat should share that commitment to moving us closer to the nation of equals we aspire to be.