The Nomination Process: The Senate

Step 1: President begins the nomination process by sending nominee to the Senate. The Executive and Legislative branch are partners in the selection of the Judicial Branch. The President nominates, with the advice and consent of the Senate (which is exercised through the confirmation process).

Take Action: When the President announces a nominee who is opposed to women's rights, get out and be heard! Make your opinion known by protesting, writing letters to the editor, writing op-eds for your local or campus newspaper, tabling, or sponsoring teach-ins.

Step 2: The nomination goes first to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which researches the nominee's record and then holds hearing. During these hearings, questions are asked in order to discover the nominee's qualifications, judgment, character, and philosophy.

Take Action: Even before the hearings begin, this is a good time to lobby your senators. Meet with them in person, call their offices on the phone, or write to them by email or fax. This is especially important for those living in states where their Senators are members on the Judiciary Committee. Continue to contact your senators regularly, and create actions that will increase visibility of the hearings and focus peoples' attention on what is at stake.

Step 3: The Committee votes on the nominee. They can give a favorable or unfavorable recommendation, or no recommendation at all. An unfavorable recommendation can block the nomination from going to the Senate.

Take Action: If the Judiciary Committee does send the nomination on to the Senate for a floor vote, your call-ins and lobby visits are essential to making sure that your senators vote the way you want them to. A visibility rally would be great at this point, to draw attention to the fact that EVERY senator will be called on to vote on the nomination.

Step 4: This is the time for full Senate debate. It takes 60 votes to end debate, so if a group of senators wants to continue debating (called a filibuster) then they can only be stopped by 60 senators. In other words, 41 senators can prevent a vote on a nominee (or on a piece of legislation, for that matter) if they choose to. They don't always - for example, there were 42 votes against John Ashcroft to be Attorney General, but there was no filibuster so he was confirmed by the 58 vote majority. If there had been a commitment to filibuster, he could have been stopped.

Take Action: Lobby visits and call-ins must be expanded to the entire Senate. Before, the concentration was focused on the senators on the Judiciary Committee, now it is crucial that all senators be lobbied. It is also critical to begin strategizing around the filibuster option, depending on the nominee.

Step 5: If the Senate ends debate, either by unanimous consent or by reaching 60 votes, it will vote on the nominee. The confirmation of the nominee only requires a majority. If the Senate is split, the Vice President casts the deciding vote.

Take Action: Continuing to flood senator's offices with their constituents' opinions is crucial. Rallying and protesting are other ways of getting your Senator's attention.

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