As a second Trump administration approaches, we’re running out of time to confirm as many federal judges as possible to provide a check on his presidential power and curb his stated policy priorities.
There are 40 federal judicial vacancies and 16 nominations before the Senate right now—as our civil rights hang in the balance, take action now!
On February 3, the House Oversight Committee Roundtable heard testimony about sexual harassment at the Washington Football Team—a microcosm of what we see every day at the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund.
Anna Nunez and Emily Applegate talked about how sexual harassment is compounded by race discrimination and other types of harassment. Witnesses talked about how the person who harassed them was known to have harassed women previously in the workplace. Applegate and others talked about how they were afraid of retaliation and losing their jobs. Witnesses talked about how the harassment made them feel ashamed and worthless. Rachel Engleson related that she eventually quit her job, even though she did not have another position to go to.
You can hear their own words here:
These are stories we know.
Last year, we studied the requests for assistance we have received through TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, and what we found tracks what the witnesses said.
After taking over the investigation from the Washinton Football Team, the NFL has reverted to the atrocious employer playbook. It has refused to release the report of that investigation—even though, as several speakers pointed out, a previous investigation led to a 250-page report about the inflation of footballs. And the NFL fined the current owner $10 million dollars, which sounds like a lot until you realize Synder’s net worth is about 2.6 billion and the Washington Football Team is valued at over 4 billion. During the time of this investigation and not releasing the report, the NFL agreed to make him the sole owner of the team.
The workers who were harassed want the report released. Advocates want the report released. Members of Congress want the report released. It makes you wonder what the NFL and the Washington Football Team are hiding. As Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz pointed out, Congress has given the NFL a partial exemption from anti-trust laws, and local governments routinely give teams huge tax breaks. If decency and doing the right thing won’t move the NFL, Congress should keep up the pressure and use these money levers. The NFL must #ReleaseTheReport.
