Stephen Spaulding
@stevespaulding
Brennan Center at NYU Law | Used-to-be: Policy Director for Senator Amy Klobuchar + the Senate Rules Committee | VP @ Common Cause | Sr. Counsel to Representative Zoe Lofgren + House Admin Committee Dems | Special Counsel at the FEC | opinions are my own 🏳️🌈
61 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act became law. Congress then reauthorized it five times—each time with overwhelming bipartisan votes. Then the Roberts Court started dismantling it. Congress must be repair & strengthen the VRA after the damage done by the Supreme Court.
This by @pewresearch.org is the third major poll this month showing rock bottom approval of the Supreme Court. Note the historic partisan gap in approval of the Court. It is not healthy to have this degree of polarization between Republicans and Democrats.
Re-upping this Gallup poll from yesterday and the public's record disapproval of the Supreme Court. Note how 25 years ago -- when the Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush -- approval barely took a dip. Approval took a dive after Dobbs and it's only getting worse.
Later this afternoon the Senate is going to take a cloture vote on a resolution providing for the “en bloc” consideration of 74 nominees. This is the result of Senate Republicans invoking the nuclear option last year to jam Trump’s exec noms through in one up-or-down vote.
A great @acslaw event in FL w/ Judge Barkett on Congress, the Constitution and SCOTUS. Many thanks to Elliot Williams for moderating the discussion. Judge Barkett made plain that there’s no principled reason the highest court in the land shouldn’t have a binding ethics code. 1/
I’m looking forward to discussing Supreme Court reform efforts with Judge Rosemary Barkett (ret.) in a conversation moderated by Elliot Williams tonight in Miami. Thanks to our friends at the @acslaw.bsky.social’s South Florida Chapter for hosting!
The photo below was taken 20 years ago today -- July 27, 2006. It's President George W. Bush signing the Voting Rights Act reauthorization and amendments into law. It passed a GOP-controlled House by a huge bipartisan vote of 390-33 and the Senate unanimously (98-0).
Excuse me? Will Chief Justice John Roberts — the Smithsonian’s Chancellor — be saying anything about this?
And term limits for the Court are popular. A poll released last month by Marquette put support at 79% of the public. That’s 73% of Republicans, 71% of independents, and 87% of Democrats in support of Supreme Court term limits. 10/
#JusticeInMotion launches Today! Judges are meeting Americans outside courthouses AND in the community to talk about how the #RuleofLaw must ensure equal justice and fairness in everyday American life. Follow their journey in: PA ➡️ OH ➡️ MI 👉 justiceinmotion.us
"This is my home, the country where my heart is. Here are my hopes, my dreams. But other hearts in other lands are beating, with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.” 1/
Not normal. The President is delaying the confirmation of a key national intelligence official in an effort to pass a law to block millions of American citizens from voting. @brennancenter.org research shows 21 million Americans lack ready access to the docs they’d need to vote.
Disturbed by what’s happening at 60 Minutes. A few years ago I sat down with Leslie Stahl for a piece about the Senate filibuster rule. I still remember walking into the offices and feeling the history, seriousness, and commitment to journalism that defined the place. Truth still matters.
Today in Congress, @raskin.house.gov says he supports term limits for Supreme Court justices, and notes it’s constitutional for Congress to pass such a law. It’s popular too. He’s right on all counts. 1/
Visiting MLK Jr’s memorial at night is a an experience all should try. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
Today the Supreme Court, notwithstanding "equal justice under law" on its marble facade, demolished what remained of the Voting Rights Act today. There are three immediate steps that Congress must pursue.
Fifty-eight years ago tonight, the day before an assassin’s bullet ended his life, Rev. Martin Luther King,Jr. delivered this prophetic last speech.
“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”—Rev. MLK Jr.
The @brennancenter.org got a shout out on tonight’s Jeopardy! Do you know the answer? In the form of a question, of course…
Wall Street Journal editorial board opposes the SAVE Act. (Nice to see in print at the dentist’s office too.)
Today marks 3 years since Karen Hobert Flynn passed away. She was a dear friend who led Common Cause. It’s still hard to comprehend how someone so full of life can disappear. Her leadership lives on through the fight to defend democracy. We will win. Thinking of her family & friends tonight.
FYI the U.S. Senate's "Bipawtisan Doggi Gras Pawrade" that took place in the Hart Senate Office Building yesterday was duly authorized by S. Res. 611, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent on February 12.
Today the White House announced two Republican nominees to the @FEC. When confirmed, they’ll restore a quorum to the agency—so there’ll be 2 Dems and 2 Rs, albeit with two vacancies (an additional R and D) still to be filled.