BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey didn't hold back when giving his opinion of President Trump's nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Trump officially nominated Judge Amy Coney-Barrett for the vacant Supreme Court seat on Saturday, calling her "one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds ... a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution."
Senator Markey said in nominating Judge Coney-Barrett, President Trump had selected "a far-right, extremist judge, whose vote on the Supreme Court will put at risk the fundamental rights sacred to our democracy."
"If you are LGBTQ, Judge Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t believe you should get married," Markey said. "If you have diabetes or heart disease, Judge Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t believe you should be able to obtain affordable health care coverage. If you are a Dreamer, Judge Amy Coney Barrett will vote to deport you."
Judge Coney-Barrett has been a law professor at Notre Dame since 2002. She was appointed to the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, in 2017, and her judicial record shows she has taken a hard-line conservative stance on immigration and abortion rights.
Sen. Markey said Coney-Barrett's record as a judge, as well as her own words, establish that "she will be a clear and present danger to reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, labor rights, voting rights, civil rights, and many more."
“Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans are trying to steal yet another Supreme Court seat less than six weeks before the presidential election and even after voting has already begun," Markey continued.“The vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg portends one of the most consequential Supreme Court nominations our nation has ever seen. I will do everything in my power to stop Judge Amy Coney Barrett from being confirmed to the Supreme Court, and shifting the Court’s balance dangerously to the right for years to come."
Markey added that if the Senate Republicans confirm Judge Barrett, he believes Democrats must move to end the filibuster and expand the Court in the next Congress.
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