John Bush’s Nomination Moves Forward in Senate


Today, the Senate took a procedural vote to allow the nomination of John K. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to advance, which passed on a party-line vote. The Senate could vote on his confirmation as soon as tomorrow.
John Bush is unfit for a lifetime position on the federal bench, where his decisions could affect the lives of women and girls for generations.  He has taken legal positions and expressed legal views that will make it virtually impossible for many who come before him as litigants, including women, to believe that he will give them a fair and impartial hearing. For example, as a lawyer, he advanced arguments to permit the Virginia Military Institute to discriminate against women in its admissions policies.  In addition, his statements demonstrate that he lacks the temperament to serve in a lifetime position on the federal bench. These include the statement, from a blog post written under a pseudonym, that abortion was one of the “two greatest tragedies in our country” (the other being slavery); and the shocking use of a quote containing an anti-LGBT slur in a in a public address. In sum, as Senator Patty Murray said on the Senate floor, this is a “Circuit Court nominee that is so clearly anti-women, anti-choice, and so clearly unqualified and unfit to serve on the bench.”

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