FreedomWorks Backs Senate Judiciary Panel Refusal to Hold SCOTUS Hearing

FreedomWorks, the conservative activist group rooted in the tea party movement, is throwing its support behind Senate Republicans who are refusing to hold confirmation hearings for President Obama’s eventual nominee to the Supreme Court.

“On behalf of our 5.7 million members nationwide, we strongly urge you to avoid holding hearings to consider any nominee to the Supreme Court until the next president is sworn into office,” FreedomWorks chief executive Adam Brandon writes in a letter to Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter, which copies Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is to be sent to the lawmakers Wednesday.

The Judiciary Committee will meet for the first time at 9:30 Wednesday morning — Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has taken herself out of the running for a SCOTUS perch — will testify as the panel does routine Justice Department oversight.

The FreedomWorks move comes a day after 17 environmental groups, in their own letter to McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), called on the Senate to hold prompt hearings and a vote on the nominee. It is the largest coordinated effort by environmental organizations to influence the nomination process.