Email Insights: Read Doug Jones’ response to call in support of Amy Coney Barrett confirmation

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Doug Jones swearing-in

Today, the U.S. Senate is on track to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. If you haven’t contacted Senator Doug Jones and are interested in his response, an Alabama Today reader forwarded us the message he received in response to his support. 

Note: We have redacted the caller’s name but otherwise have made no other changes to the letter which is presented in full below. 

 

Doug Jones
United States Senator from Alabama

 

Dear “Name redacted”,

Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts about the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I have heard from thousands of Alabamians in the wake of Justice Ginsburg’s death. For so many, she was a role model and an inspiration. She was a brilliant and tireless advocate, a champion for fairness and equality, and her efforts have brought our country closer to the ideals on which it was founded.

It is a poor reflection of the state of our national politics that just hours after Justice Ginsburg’s passing, we were thrust into a divisive partisan fight over her successor, denying the nation the time to mourn this extraordinary American’s death and to fully celebrate her exceptional life and legacy.

But, here we are, less than 40 days from a national election – as hundreds of thousands of Americans have already cast their votes – confronting a blatant power grab by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the President that will undermine the court and subvert the will of the American people.

As a reminder, just four years ago, Majority Leader McConnell held open a Supreme Court seat for ten months before a Presidential election because he said time and again that in an election year, we must let the American people decide. Indeed, on February 13, 2016, within hours of Justice Scalia’s death, Senator McConnell said, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

Consequently, if confirming a Supreme Court justice ten months prior to a Presidential election would have denied the American people a voice, then isn’t Mitch McConnell denying the American people a voice by rushing to confirm a justice less than 40 days from a Presidential election?

I believe the answer to this question is a resounding YES. This is especially true given the urgent legislative work we have yet to do.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell should turn his focus instead to protecting the lives and livelihoods of the American people. We should pass a new COVID-19 stimulus package to give Americans the relief they desperately need and that economists say is required to shore up the economy. We should pass the National Defense Authorization Act to support the men and women in our military. We should pass spending bills on time instead of kicking the can down the road with yet another costly continuing resolution. We should pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which has languished in the Senate, in order to protect the right of all Americans to vote and participate in our democracy.

Consequently, under these circumstances, I will not support confirming any Supreme Court justice nominee before the election. We should not force the country into a brutal and divisive partisan fight to confirm a Supreme Court justice while Americans are already voting to choose the next President.

If President Trump is re-elected, I will evaluate any pending or future nominee on their merits and vote for or against the nomination based on that nominee’s qualifications.

But in the interim, let us go about the business of protecting the lives and livelihoods of Americans.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to do so again if I can be of assistance to you or your family.

Sincerely,

Doug Jones
United States Senator
https://www.jones.senate.gov