Four Dems Voting to Advance Gorsuch Decried as 'Trump Collaborators'

Clockwise from top left: Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), and Joe Manchin (W.Va.). (Photos: Evan Bayh, Housing Assistance Council, Jeffrey Beall, Third Way Think Tank)

Four Dems Voting to Advance Gorsuch Decried as 'Trump Collaborators'

'When Gorsuch casts the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the American people will remember that Senators Bennet, Donnelly, Heitkamp, and ManchinĀ helped make it possible'

The four Senate Democrats who voted Thursday to advance the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court have been labeled "Trump collaborators" by one progressive activism group.

The Democrats who voted for cloture--and thus bucked their party's filibuster of the controversial nominee--were Michael Bennet of Colorado; Joe Donnelly of Indiana; Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota; and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

"Today's vote will be a defining moment in the careers of Senate Democrats," said CREDO senior campaign manager Heidi Hess. "The so-called 'Democrats' who voted to advance Gorsuch's confirmation will be remembered by history as Trump collaborators, if they're remembered at all."

"When Gorsuch casts the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade," she continued, "the American people will remember that Senators Bennet, Donnelly, Heitkamp, and Manchin helped make it possible."

Indeed, earlier this week CREDO warned--upon the delivery of a life-sized spine to Bennet's office--that voting to advance Gorsuch "will tarnish Sen. Bennet's reputation for the rest of his career."

Previously, a coalition of progressive organizations collected and delivered more than 230,000 petition signatures urging the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) not to fund any Democrat who helped confirm Gorsuch.

"Any Democrat who rolls over and lets Mitch McConnell steal a Supreme Court seat for Donald Trump is dangerously out of touch with the popular resistance," said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action, at the time. "It's no surprise that Trump has picked a right-wing extremist who would threaten our environment, our civil rights, and the foundations of our democracy. The DSCC should stand with the American people and refuse to support the re-election campaigns of Senate Democrats who support Gorsuch."

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