June 28th, 2018

Tom Perez: They stole a Supreme Court seat from us

This morning (June 27) the Supreme Court's conservative majority handed down an awful decision, siding with corporations over working families by making it harder for unions to organize nationwide. This decision is merely the latest terrible ruling the high court has handed down in the last few weeks:

• Upholding Trump's Muslim ban.
• Allowing Ohio to keep purging voters from its rolls, creating a blueprint for other Republican-led states across the country to suppress voters.
• Reversing a lower court ruling that found that several Texas congressional and legislative districts were racially gerrymandered.
• Ruling against a California law that prevents anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers" from misleading women.
• Limiting the ability of millions of workers to join together and challenge their employers on everything from wage disputes to discrimination to sexual harassment claims.

All of these decisions were decided by a 5-4 vote -- and they only happened because Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat from President Obama.

These rulings are proof that Elections matter.

We weren't able to confirm Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court in 2016, because Republicans held a majority in the Senate and refused to even give Judge Garland a hearing. They kept that seat vacant for a whole year because they knew it was the swing vote on the high court. Then they elected a Republican president, and a Republican Senate majority confirmed Neil Gorsuch.

If we don't do everything in our power to flip the Senate in 2018, and the White House in 2020, Donald Trump could appoint even more Supreme Court justices -- and as a lawyer, let me tell you: that would be absolutely catastrophic for our country.

Tom Perez
​Chair, Democratic National Committee