April, 07 2022, 02:33pm EDT
Sunrise Celebrates Historic Confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON
Following the news that the Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Varshini Prakash, Executive Director of Sunrise Movement, released the following statement:
"After 233 years, our country has finally made history by confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black woman and former public defender, to the Supreme Court. Millions of people are celebrating finally having a Black woman fight for us on the highest court in the land. We look forward to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson defending our rights against corrupt corporate interests at the Supreme Court.
"Despite the history being made today, it's not enough to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson. We can't make progress and move our country forward when this far right, extreme Supreme Court is threatening our democracy, and our chance at having a liveable future. If our politicians are serious about protecting and expanding reproductive rights, climate justice, and more, the Senate must expand the court. Anything less threatens our basic rights, our ability to fight white supremacist violence, and hope of combatting the climate crisis."
Judge Brown Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court comes as the Supreme Court reinstated a Trump-era rule yesterday restricting states' and tribes' ability to reject fossil fuel projects like pipelines under the Clean Water Act. A decision on West Virginia vs. EPA, which risks the EPA's ability to regulate polluters, is expected this summer. Sunrise Movement partnered with Take Back the Court on this report breaking down how we got to this point and the stakes in West Virginia v. EPA.
Sunrise Movement is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
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The Wall Street Journalreported Thursday that members of Trump's transition team and the new Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have asked nominees under consideration to head the FDIC and OCC if the bank watchdogs could be eliminated and have their functions absorbed by the Treasury Department, which is set to be run by a billionaire hedge fund manager and crypto enthusiast.
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The FDIC, which is primarily funded by bank insurance premiums, was established during the Great Depression to restore public trust in the nation's banking system, and the agency played a central role in navigating the 2023 bank failures that threatened a systemic crisis.
Observers warned that gutting the FDIC and OCC could catalyze another economic meltdown.
"The next recession starts here," tech journalist Jacob Silverman warned in response to the Journal's reporting.
Eric Rauchway, a historian of the New Deal, wrote that "even Milton Friedman appreciated the FDIC," underscoring the extreme nature of the incoming Trump administration's deregulatory ambitions.
Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is also pushing for the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
The Journal noted Thursday that "Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican from Kentucky and Trump ally on the House Financial Services Committee, has backed the plan to eliminate or drastically alter the CFPB and said he wants to get rid of what he calls 'one-size-fits-all' regulation for banks."
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"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system."
"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system," he continued, noting the tens of thousands of Americans who die each year because they can't get to a doctor.
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