Press Releases

As Senators Head Home, ECU Intensifying Pressure to Reject Gorsuch

Feb 17, 2017

Launching new website, running digital ads, sharing toolkit on meeting with senators and attending town hall meetings

 
As the U.S. Senate enters its latest recess and senators head back to their home states, End Citizens United (ECU) is intensifying its efforts to pressure senators to oppose Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination. Gorsuch, who was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Trump, has supported rulings that give corporations the same rights as real people.

ECU is sharing a toolkit with its members to help them identify town halls and schedule meetings with their senators. It’s also running grassroots targeted digital ads and launching RejectGorsuch.com. The new website will serve as a clearing house for its members to find options to take action in opposition to Gorsuch and to obtain information about his record.

“Judge Gorsuch’s absurd belief that corporations are people stands in stark contrast to what the overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Americans believe. Citizens United, which also equated corporations to people, opened the door to a flood of unlimited and undisclosed money that’s polluting our elections,” said Tiffany Muller, Executive Director at End Citizens United. “Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation would be a genuine threat to the few campaign finance protections left in place. Our members are taking action, and we’re demanding that the Senate reject his nomination.”

Earlier this month, the campaign finance reform group launched a grassroots campaign calling on the Senate to reject Gorsuch based on his belief that corporations are people and the threat he poses to the campaign finance laws that safeguard our democracy. ECU kicked off its efforts with a nationwide petition calling on senators to reject Gorsuch and a ‘call your senator’ campaign.

According to a new national poll conducted for ECU, Every Voice, and NARAL, 78 percent of voters are more likely to oppose a nominee who will allow corporations and special interests to continue to use money to gain influence and drown out the voice of individuals in politics.

Gorsuch would join the extreme wing of the Court that has ruled in favor of cases like Citizens United, which gave billionaires undue and outsized influence in our democracy. Gorsuch could be the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court according to an analysis by two political science professors at Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin.

End Citizens United, a grassroots-funded political action committee (PAC), was established in March 2015 to counter the disastrous effects of Citizens United and reform our campaign finance system.

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