‘People’s Filibuster’ against Gorsuch draws hundreds

Sens. Murray, Cantwell both support filibuster of Supreme Court nominee

SEATTLE (April 3, 2017) — On Saturday, April 1, hundreds gathered in downtown Seattle — and thousands in cities across America — for a “People’s Filibuster” calling for the Senate to reject Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Neil Gorsuch has a record that consistently favors corporations over the rights of working people,” said Lynne Dodson, Secretary Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, who spoke at Saturday’s rally outside the federal courthouse. “He has ruled against workers on health and safety, and against whistleblower protection for workers who speak out. He’s regularly ruled against people subjected to discrimination in the workplace, and frequently denied workers rights to secure their earned wages and benefits.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today to forward Gorsuch’s nomination to the full Senate. It is there that Senate Democrats, outnumbered 52-48, hope to filibuster the nomination. That would block it from proceeding unless Republicans can find eight Democrats who will side with them for the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and break the filibuster. As of this writing, only three Democrats have said they will support Gorsuch and it appears the 40 senators needed to filibuster are committed to doing so.

Both U.S. senators from Washington state, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, have committed to supporting a Democratic filibuster of Gorsuch’s nomination.

Dodson urged Saturday’s rallygoers to “please call Senators Murray and Cantwell and thank them for standing up against taking our country backward for decades to come.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who led the 10-month blockade of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, has vowed that Gorsuch will be confirmed no matter what. He has told colleagues that if Democrats successfully filibuster the nomination, he will employ the “nuclear option” and change Senate rules to lower the threshold for ending a filibuster to a simple majority.