Tony Perkins: FRC is Fighting to Reclaim America’s Courts

There are now more than 120 openings in the federal judiciary that President Trump is attempting to fill, largely with solidly conservative jurists who will put an end to the liberal activism that has run rampant in the courts for the past 30 years.

In a fundraising email obtained by Charisma Caucus, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said his organization is gearing up to help lead the fight to champion the president’s judicial nominees, who will likely face stiff opposition from Senate Democrats. While only a simple majority vote is needed to confirm the president’s nominations, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has made it clear he intends to use Senate rules to obstruct everything the president is trying to do.

Perkins wrote:

On the National Day of Prayer, President Trump issued an executive order to “preserve and protect our religious liberty”—something that Family Research Council has been pushing in Washington for quite some time. It was a great victory for all Christians.

We should all be encouraged by the president’s resolve to safeguard religious freedom. But President Trump’s proclamation alone will not restore the rightful role of faith in America. Here’s why:

The battle for religious freedom will be decided in America’s courts.

During his eight years in office, Barack Obama appointed more than 300 judges, giving liberal activists their present control of America’s federal court system. Because these judges are appointed for life, they are firmly ensconced until they die or retire of their own volition.

With a liberal majority controlling America’s federal courts, religious freedom is still in grave danger.

These liberal judges have given us a redefinition of marriage away from biblical principles toward a secularist definition that includes same-sex marriage, as well as decisions that have affirmed government-sanctioned persecution of Christian business owners like Aaron and Melissa Klein and Barronelle Stutzman. But matters will only get worse unless the tide of judicial liberalism is turned.

Perkins also wrote:

You witnessed how tough it was to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Led by Senator Chuck Schumer, the intolerant left tried to paint this well-respected jurist as public enemy number one. And the caustic hostility to President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee promises to get even uglier.

President Trump’s commitment to religious freedom and the rule of law has already spurred a knee-jerk reaction from the intolerant left, which has pledged to delay and derail these appointments. Claiming they have not been consulted by the president, liberal senators from key states will use what amounts to veto power to stop the appointments of conservative jurists they find objectionable, no matter how well qualified they are.

We cannot let the intolerant left succeed.

FRC is working overtime to do all it can to help make sure that President Trump’s nominees are confirmed.

Even before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, FRC has championed conservative Christian principles on Capitol Hill. When it comes to judicial nominees, the organization helps by providing detailed background information about the president’s picks to key allies in Congress. It also educates millions of Americans through its public outreach efforts in digital, print and radio formats.

Perkins concluded:

FRC has already been a big help to President Trump as he selects men and women of integrity to serve on America’s federal bench. But helping vet impartial candidates for judicial vacancies is only the beginning. Now we must make sure they are confirmed. But we need the resources to do it …

Winning the battle for America’s courts is critical. We finally have an opportunity to reclaim America’s federal court system from liberal domination. {eoa}