AFJ Urges Senators to Reject Steven Menashi

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 13, 2019 – Following the Senate’s cloture vote on the nomination of Steven Menashi to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:

“It is deeply disappointing that a majority of Republicans chose to move forward with the confirmation of Steven Menashi. Menashi has tirelessly worked to turn the racist, sexist, and homophobic rhetoric of his past into public policy. He was a top aide to Betsy DeVos as she fought to dismantle access to quality public education, including devising the Department of Education’s illegal effort to misuse Social Security data to cheat thousands of student borrowers who were defrauded by for-profit colleges. He helped devise some of Trump’s most draconian immigration policies, working with Stephen Miller, who we now know wrote hundreds of racist, white nationalist emails to Breitbart.

“It is clear, however, that there is bipartisan opposition to Menashi’s confirmation. Between now and the final vote on his confirmation, Republican Senators must ask themselves whether they can vote in good conscience to confirm Menashi — especially in the face of the tens of thousands of teachers, students, workers, civil rights advocates, consumers, and countless others who have made their voices heard against this nominee. Just like Ryan Bounds and Thomas Farr — who were rejected after a successful cloture vote — it is not too late to keep such a biased ideologue off the federal bench.”