WASHINGTON — A coalition of more than 40 organizations on Tuesday urged senators to confront the role the federal courts are playing in the nation’s affordability crisis, drawing a connection between the anti-consumer and anti-worked records of many judicial nominees and harmful decisions being handed down by judges already on the bench.
“Today, decisions issued by federal courts across the country are having a direct impact on the cost of living and the ability of all people to afford groceries, rent, transportation, child care, health care, education, energy, and other necessities,” the groups write in their letter to senators. “The powerful role that our federal courts play in influencing affordability makes it critically important that the judges serving on those courts are committed to workers’ rights, consumer rights, and a strong democracy in which all people — and their families — can thrive.”
The letter — signed by consumer advocacy groups, labor unions, and a broad cross-section of the civil and human rights community — calls on senators to reject lifetime judicial nominees with records of hostility toward workers and consumers and to recognize the lasting economic consequences of the judges they confirm.
The groups point to several recently confirmed judges whose records illustrate the stakes. Andrew Davis, confirmed to the Western District of Texas in April, previously argued that an Austin ordinance requiring employers to provide paid sick leave was unconstitutional. Edmund LaCour, now a judge in the Northern District of Alabama, defended the state’s effort to block Birmingham from raising its minimum wage. And Anna St. John, a district court judge in Louisiana who has been nominated to the Fifth Circuit, testified against legislation banning forced arbitration in cases involving sexual assault and harassment — instead siding with a system that shields corporations from accountability.
The letter also highlights decisions by judges already on the federal bench that have weakened workplace and consumer protections, limited the power of agencies charged with protecting consumers, and made it harder for working people and consumers to seek relief in court. Those include rulings striking down an expansion of overtime eligibility for salaried workers and a rule protecting consumers from excessive credit card late fees, as well as a decision allowing the administration to strip collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal employees. The groups also point to Supreme Court decisions weakening public sector unions and limiting the independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“These judges and justices are leaving American families, workers, and consumers weaker and less protected from corporate wrongdoing and the whims of an authoritarian ruler,” the letter states.
The groups also argue that the problem is compounded by the narrow professional backgrounds historically represented on the federal bench. Federal judges have disproportionately been corporate lawyers and prosecutors, while relatively few have backgrounds in economic justice or organized labor. The letter calls for judges with a wider range of professional, educational, and demographic backgrounds — including people whose experiences give them a greater understanding of the economic realities facing working families.
“All senators who claim to be working to solve the affordability crisis must take seriously their role in confirming judges to the federal judiciary,” the letter states. “Federal judges confirmed today will shape the rules of our economy for decades to come.”
Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, said: “Trump judges are making the affordability crisis worse for millions of Americans. Their decisions make it easier for companies to abuse their power to fire us unfairly, underpay us, and retaliate against us for exercising our legal rights. These judges are making it easier for companies to get away with predatory lending schemes that take money out of our hands and siphon it to them. In an economic system that increasingly feels like predator and prey, Trump judges are putting us on the menu.”
Jody Calemine, director of advocacy at AFL-CIO, said: “Our courts need judges who understand the plight of everyday working people. Instead, too many judges seem to only sympathize with CEOs, protecting their wealth at the expense of workers’ rights. These judges act like the failsafe for CEOs who lose legislative battles, blocking hard won rights or benefits from taking effect. The lesson of the last several years is clear: having a fair minded judiciary with working class oriented judges is as important as having a pro-worker legislature.”
Ryanne Olsen, director of judicial campaigns at the National Association of Consumer Advocates, said: “The affordability crisis is also a consumer protection crisis. Every dollar lost to a hidden fee, deceptive loan, or abusive business practice is money a family cannot spend on rent, groceries, or other necessities. Judges interpret the law to decide if consumers can hold companies accountable and whether watchdog agencies can carry out their missions. Very few federal judges have firsthand experience representing consumers and working families. Confirming nominees with records of weakening consumer rights puts those protections at even greater risk.”
Rachel Rossi, president of Alliance for Justice, said: “From propping up crypto to slashing corporate taxes to allowing monopolistic mergers, the Trump White House is working hand-in-hand with major corporations to make the rich richer at everyone else’s expense. It’s no surprise Trump is also nominating loyal judges who will rubber-stamp that agenda no matter the cost to everyday workers and consumers — let alone our access to health care, clean air and water, and basic civil rights. We deserve judges who will protect all people, not the predatory corporations eager to make our lives harder while padding their bottom line.”
Alison Gill, senior director for nominations and democracy at the National Women’s Law Center, said: “Affordability is a legal issue as much as it is an economic one. Trump-appointed federal judges are compounding the affordability crisis in this country, making it harder for working people to afford a dignified and stable life. Having anti-abortion, anti-trans, and anti-union judges on the bench pushes forward an extremist political agenda that makes everyday necessities, especially health care, more expensive and harder to access. Women in particular bear the brunt of caretaking and making economic decisions for their families. Increasing women’s economic security means demanding federal judges who are prepared to prioritize women and families over billionaires and corporate profits.”
Deborah J. Vagins, senior vice president for advocacy & programs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said: “As this administration prioritizes benefits for billionaires, the rest of us are left behind, struggling under staggering inflation. President Trump has nominated several judges who are loyal to him and his billionaire friends, and not to working families. Many of his judicial picks have repealed paid sick leave, blocked minimum wage increases, and shielded corporations from accountability to the everyday consumer. They have stood in the way of progress that would help working people not just get by, but get ahead. We urge the Senate to reject judicial nominees who have a record of hostility to consumers and workers, and instead ensure we have judges from diverse backgrounds who have not been insulated from experiencing the affordability crisis firsthand and knowing the difficult economic realities that so many American families face.”
Full list of signatories: AFL-CIO, Alliance for Justice, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Friends Service Committee, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Center for Justice & Democracy, Clearinghouse on Women's Issues, Coalition on Human Needs, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Court Accountability Action, Demand Justice, Democratic Messaging Project, Equality California, Faithful Voter Project, Faiths for Safe Water, Feminist Majority, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Groundwork Action, Indivisible, JustLeadershipUSA, League of Conservation Voters, Legal Momentum, the Women's Legal Defense & Education Fund, MOVI - Money Out Voters In, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), National Consumers League, National Education Association, National Organization for Women, National Women's Law Center, Oasis Legal Services, Open Markets Institute, Oregon Consumer Justice, Oregon Consumer League, People For the American Way, Public Good Law Center, Reproductive Freedom for All, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Silver State Equality, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, Voices for Progress
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About People For the American Way:
People For the American Way is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. For more than four decades, we have been dedicated to making the promise of American ideals real for everyone and have worked toward a vision of a vibrant America where basic rights and freedoms are upheld for all, not just the wealthy and the powerful. Learn more at peoplefor.org.
