Welcome to the center for American Progress, i am the executive Vice President of external affairs. Im so delighted that you could join us today. In our recent report reviving antitrust, it highlighted the idea that the economy has grown more consolidated with more power be good time concentrated in the largest firms in america. This is in no small part of the conservative assault on both government and the middle class. This assault has played out not just in the courts, but in antitrust enforcement practices of the department of justice, the federal trade commission, and at a wider range of federal regulators and in the halls of congress, where the view that big meant more efficient, has dominated for far too long. Ng. Since the early 1980s, conservative legal thinking embodied in robert bork and antonin scalia, has sought to dismantle the ability of government to protect consumers, workers, Small Businesses, the environment, people of color, basically all of us ordinary folks, from
Nominee judge neil gorsuch. This was posted at the University Law center. [inaudible conversations] so i guess we will get started. [inaudible] who want to welcome all of you here to a discussion of the nomination of the Supreme Court. I will introduce [inaudible] he will introduce the other panelists. Take it away. Thank you for coming. Thank you. So we promised you an engaging roundtable of experts. [inaudible] i am going to introduce the panelists. On the talk about the format and then get underway. To my right history into common a partner at jones day where im guessing he now wonders he and steve holy spirit is a graduate of your law school, former law clerk for justice kalina and argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court. To his right history and three, president of the american constitution society. She is a graduate [inaudible] and then, Kristine Lucius is a graduate of georgetown law. Served as chief counsel of the judiciary committee, spending the last 10 years working f
We will get started as folks continue to wander in from class. I am the director of the institute here at georgetown and on behalf of of the executive director and the assistant director, we are happy to welcome all of you here to what promises to be a very interesting discussion of the pending nomination to the u. S. Supreme court. I will introduce the moderator, who is a Supreme Court correspondent, adam liptak. The New York Times purveyor of genuine news. He will introduce other panelists. Take it away. Thank you all for being here. Mr. Liptak thank you. So i see in the flyer that we promised you an engaging roundtable of experts. Im going to introduce the panelists and then talk a little bit about the formatting and get under way. So to my right is mr. Dvoretzky, from jones day where he wanders the empty hallways. Looking for his colleagues that have joined the trump administration. Hes a graduate of law school and a former law clerk to Justice Scalia. And to his right is caroline
Welcome to the center for American Progress, i am the executive Vice President of external affairs. Im so delighted that you could join us today. In our recent report reviving antitrust, it highlighted the idea that the economy has grown more consolidated with more power being concentrated in the largest firms in america. This is in no small part of the conservative assault on both government and the middle class. This assault has played out not just in the courts, but in antitrust enforcement practices of the department of justice, the federal trade commission, and at a wid range of deral regulators and in the halls of congress, where the view that big meant more efficient, has dominated for far too long. Since the early 1980s, conservative legal thinking embodied in robert bork and antonin scalia, has sought to dismantle the ability of government to protect consumers, workers, Small Businesses, the environment, people of color, basically all of us ordinary folks, from the abuses of m
It has been more than a year since the untimely passing of Justice Antonin Scalia in february of 2016. Under article 2, section 2 of the United States constitution, president obama had a duty to make a nomination to fill that vacant seat. He nominated chief judge merrick garland. But the leader of the Senate Republicans, majority leader mcconnell, announced that for the first time for the first time in the 230year history of the senate he would refuse the president s nominee a hearing and a vote. Senator mcconnell said he would refuse to even meet with judge garland. It was a transparent political decision made by the republican leader in the hopes a republican would be elected president and fill the vacancy and it was part of a broader republican political strategy to influence if not capture the Judicial Branch of government at every level of the court system. Not only did the Senate Republicans keep a Supreme Court seat vacant for over a year, they turned the Senate Executive calend