Action Alerts

Time is running out for the Senate to confirm judges

What's At Stake

Time is running out. There are only a few weeks left in this session for the Senate to confirm President Biden’s remaining judicial nominees. Urge your Senators to ensure our courts are fair and balanced and to confirm these federal judges. 

Our environmental laws are only as strong as the judges who enforce them. We need fair-minded judges who understand the difference between science and politics and recognize the government’s responsibility to protect public health and the environment.  

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President Biden’s appointees are experienced legal thinkers who respect settled law, including the strong legal precedents that Earthjustice has built over the last 50 years.  

The Senate has confirmed over 220 of his nominees so far and is set to consider another few dozen in the coming weeks. Even one judge can make a difference in upholding our environmental laws and delivering justice for all. 

The incoming Trump administration has signaled it will toss environmental protections to the curb. But Earthjustice is prepared to challenge that agenda in court — and many of those legal battles will play out in federal courts. 

Although the conservative supermajority of the U.S. Supreme Court commands a great deal of public attention, only a very small number of cases ever make it there. More than 99% of federal cases are resolved in the lower courts – where some of the most qualified and fair-minded judges in history currently preside. 

If you care about safeguarding clean air and clean water, protecting our wild places and wildlife, and empowering the government to combat climate change, you must care about our courts and the judges who interpret our laws. 

Tell your Senators now: don’t waste any more time and confirm these remaining judges. 

More than 99% of federal cases are resolved in the lower courts – where some of the most qualified and fair-minded judges in history currently preside.
More than 99% of federal cases are resolved in the lower courts – where some of the most qualified and fair-minded judges in history currently preside. (bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock)

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Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.