[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NOMINATION OF ANDREW LYNN BRASHER

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on the nomination of Andrew Brasher for 
the Eleventh Circuit, the nomination is truly a disgrace--a disgrace--
to our judiciary. I urge every single Senator to reject it.
  Mr. Brasher is laughably inexperienced. He was confirmed as a 
district court judge only 9 months ago. That is the sum total of his 
experience as a judge at any level--9 months. Now Leader McConnell 
wants to elevate him to an appellate court. In Leader McConnell's 
desperate rush to pack the courts with hard-right judges, his party is 
asking the Senate to confirm judicial novices to the most austere and 
important seats on the Federal bench.
  Worse than this nominee's inexperience, though, are his views, which 
are so far outside the American mainstream.
  In his 5 years as solicitor general in the State of Alabama, Brasher 
defended the indefensible on issues ranging from women's reproductive 
rights, to marriage equality, to gun safety. Mr. Brasher has also 
amassed a career's worth of experience undermining voting rights. 
Brasher signed on to an amicus brief that argued in favor of gutting 
the Voting Rights Act--arguably the most important piece of civil 
rights legislation in our Nation's history. His arguments in defense of 
an Arizona voter ID law were roundly rejected by the Supreme Court, 
including Justice Scalia. As the solicitor general for Alabama, Brasher 
defended the State's voter suppression efforts, including State 
district lines that courts later concluded were drawn explicitly to 
discriminate against African-American voters. This is who the Senate 
Republicans want to put as a circuit court of appeals justice.
  Whether it is covering up for President Trump and his attempts to 
cheat in our elections or confirming judges like Mr. Brasher with a 
history of race-related voter discrimination, Senate Republicans are 
showing outright contempt for the very wellspring of our democracy--the 
right of American citizens to vote in free and fair elections.
  Mr. Brasher clearly, obviously, and certainly does not belong on the 
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. I urge every Senator to vote against 
his nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________