Arlington, VA — Today Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) is launching a new grassroots initiative called “Defend the Courts,” dedicated to engagement around judicial nominations. Through the new effort, CVA will mobilize activists to support qualified judicial nominees who will respect the rule of law, fight to end judicial obstruction in Congress, and educate all Americans about the importance of a fully-functioning judiciary. CVA engaged earlier this year in an unprecedented grassroots effort in support of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The Defend the Courts launch includes a new website — www.defendthecourts.org — which provides educational content on America’s judicial crisis and connects activists with actions they can take to support various lower court nominees and end judicial obstruction. CVA is placing a distinct emphasis on misuse of the obscure “blue slip” tradition, in which some Democrats in the Senate are purposefully withholding ceremonious permission to move forward on judicial nominations — for political reasons.
In upcoming weeks and months, CVA will make a significant investment to mobilize its grassroots army as needed through Defend the Courts events, phone banks, digital ads, and mailers.
Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Executive Director Mark Lucas issued the following statement:
“Our country is facing a judicial crisis. With over one hundred vacancies in courts across the country, America’s judiciary isn’t fully functioning and people can’t access the justice guaranteed to them by the Constitution. President Trump is doing his part to swiftly select qualified nominees who will respect the rule of law, but the process is being held up by Democrats in Senate who are playing political games.
“We saw what CVA activists were capable of when we fought to help confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court earlier this year. But the fight is not over, and we will mobilize our grassroots army as needed to defend the lower courts.”
The Defend the Courts initiative comes on the heels of a recent “Gridlock Reform” coalition the CVA joined with groups like Judicial Crisis Network, Tea Party Patriots, Susan B. Anthony List, and Concerned Women for America.
Earlier this year, CVA engaged in an unprecedented effort around the Supreme Court nomination fight. CVA activists made nearly 400,000 calls in twelve targeted states urging people to call their senators in support of Neil Gorsuch. The group also dropped three waves of mail, connected over 20,000 people in America directly with their elected officials, hosted over 30,000 people during in a “Future of the Courts” tele-townhall series with Senators Cruz, Lee, and Ernst, and launched a series of ads. CVA additionally led a coalition of over 50 major conservative groups who signed a letter CVA sent to the Senate in support of Gorsuch. The group’s efforts were successful in Indiana, West Virginia, and North Dakota, where Democratic Senators Donnelly, Manchin, and Heitkamp flipped and ended up voting in support of Gorsuch.
Since the confirmation of Justice Gorsuch, CVA has announced support of President Trump’s judicial nominees as they’ve been announced. The group has pushed for and applauded the confirmation of two future lower courts judges, Bush and Newsom, and ran ads in support of nominees Joan Larsen (6th Circuit Court of Appeals) and Ralph Erickson (8th Circuit Court of Appeals).
There are currently over 130 vacancies in lower courts across the country. President Trump has nominated nearly 30 qualified candidates to fill those positions.
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