Sen. Duckworth Releases Statement After Sham Supreme Court Nomination Process

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 -- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, issued the following statement on Oct. 26:

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U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement about Mitch McConnell's decision to jam through a Supreme Court nominee after millions of Americans have already voted and with just eight days until Election Day:

"Infuriating, awful and illegitimate."

Since Barrett was announced as Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, Duckworth has been vocal about her opposition to this appointment. When Barrett was first nominated, the Senator responded: "instead of addressing the many life-and-death issues facing working families during COVID-19, Trump and the Senate Republicans are focused on jamming through this nomination in a transparent grab for power so they can achieve their long-sought goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act and ripping away healthcare from millions - including every COVID-19 survivor who now has a pre-existing condition."

Following reports that Amy Coney Barrett supported a radical organization that believes life begins at fertilization and that steps in the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) process should be criminalized, Duckworth sent an emotional and personal letter to each of Senate colleagues, including those who had applauded and cuddled her daughter Maile Pearl when she became the first infant allowed on the Senate floor, urging them to consider what a vote for this nominee would say to the millions of Americans hoping to start a family using IVF therapy. Duckworth used IVF to get pregnant with both of her daughters, Abigail and Maile Pearl, and made history in 2018 when she advocated for the Senate to change its rules so she could bring her infant onto the Senate floor.

Duckworth has also noted that "if Republicans insist on confirming Judge Barrett, the Court could roll back women's reproductive rights, greenlight more dark money in politics, jeopardize voting rights and civil rights for Black and brown communities and knock down any progress on climate action." She previously voted against confirming Amy Coney Barrett to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit "because she failed to demonstrate the capability or willingness to serve as an impartial, fair and independent jurist." And the Senator stated "Judge Barrett was not fit to be a Circuit Judge in 2017 and she is the wrong choice for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court today."