Legislative Letters

Re: Oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Michael Brennan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Jan 24, 2018

Dear Senator,

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national, state and local priorities. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.

We urge you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Michael Brennan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. By holding a hearing for Judge Brennan without the consent of both home-state Senators, President Trump and Chairman Grassley are undermining the process by which we nominate and confirm federal judges. This is the longest federal appeals court vacancy in the country, and Judge Brennan’s nomination deserves the same transparent and deliberative process as previous nominees. It is disturbing that the Trump Administration did not consult with Senator Baldwin regarding this nomination and that Judge Brennan did not receive the requisite five votes from Senators Baldwin and Johnson’s bipartisan nominating commission for his nomination to move forward.

This is part of a disturbing pattern by the Trump Administration and Chairman Grassley to nominate and confirm judicial appointments without a rigorous process to ensure we have qualified, non-ideological nominees in these lifetime appointments.  The fact that Judge Brennan’s hearing  is being held even though Senator Baldwin has not returned her blue slip, effectively ends a long-standing tradition that both parties have used.

For these reasons, LCV strongly urges you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Michael Brennan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. We will consider including this confirmation vote in the 2018 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our government relations team.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President