By Rep. Susie Lee It is a privilege, not a right, to be a judge in the United States. A judge must embody open-mindedness, patience, understanding, common sense, critical thinking and other qualities that epitomize the very best in all of us. A good and fair judge cannot be corrupted by hateful thinking or personal vendettas. That's why Lawrence VanDyke's looming nomination to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should scare all of us. VanDyke, a former Nevada solicitor general and current judicial nominee, will likely receive a Senate floor vote this week. He will receive a floor vote even though he is not supported by either home state senator, which is a usual requirement, and has few ties to the Silver State. He will receive a floor vote even though the American Bar Association rated him as "Not Qualified" and described him as "arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules." Most importantly, he will receive a floor vote even though he has clearly expressed that he will not be fair to LGBTQ Americans and their families in his courtroom. This man's nomination is a red flag that the independence of our courts is eroding before our very eyes. To start off, VanDyke has weak ties to Nevada, and even seems to have few professional ties to any state. He had short stints in Washington, D.C., Texas and Montana before moving to Nevada after losing his race for the Montana Supreme Court. He didn't take the Nevada bar exam for two years until he was forced to do so in July 2017. And of course, after his political appointment ended, he packed up his carpet bag and returned to Washington, D.C., where he now works at the Department of Justice. If confirmed, VanDyke would be handed a lifetime appointment on a court of last resort that could seriously affect the lives of Nevadans for generations in a broad range of issues, which brings us to his true passion project: delegitimizing the rights of LGBTQ Americans. When it comes to VanDyke's unsettling record on LGBTQ issues, he has a long and persistent view that marriage equality is somehow harmful. In 2004, he asserted that "same-sex marriage will hurt families, and consequentially children and society." When senators pressed him on whether he still holds these views, VanDyke refused to disavow his position in both his hearing and in his responses to the questions for the record. To add insult to injury, VanDyke has maintained a long affiliation with extreme anti-LGBTQ groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization notorious for its campaigns against the LGBTQ community. VanDyke has weaponized his longstanding personal beliefs about the LGBTQ community by devoting much of his professional life to gutting protections for LGBTQ Americans. He worked relentlessly to persuade the Montana attorney general's office to join numerous amicus briefs opposing marriage equality and briefs in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. While serving in that office, VanDyke recruited signatories for an amicus brief in support of a business seeking to legally discriminate against same-sex couples. Most recently, the ABA also determined that VanDyke is "Not Qualified" based in part on serious concerns over whether he could be fair to the LGBTQ community -- a conclusion based on conversations with 60 lawyers and judges across four states. The report warned that "Mr. VanDyke would not say affirmatively that he would be fair to any litigant before him, notably members of the LGBTQ community." VanDyke told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a public hearing that he would treat everyone fairly, but two things are important to note about his remark. One, it stood in direct contrast to the ABA report. Two, his remark -- made with the pressure of a lifetime appointment on the line -- was out of step with his record on LGBTQ issues. When it comes to our federal courts, the American people deserve judges who will rule based on the law and on facts, rather than their own worldview or policy preferences. It's hard to believe that someone who has vocally spent his entire career opposing LGBTQ protections will be able to undergo a sudden "confirmation conversion" in order to administer fair and impartial justice to LGBTQ litigants -- especially after a lifetime of denigrating their equal dignity, and peddling in long-discredited myths and stereotypes about LGBTQ families and relationships. Our judiciary system is the foundation of our democracy. Although partisanship has increasingly overtaken our government, we hold judges to a standard that rises above partisan fighting. When judges are unable or unwilling to be fair or impartial, it undermines the legitimacy of not just our courts, but our country. We urge our Senate colleagues to reject this nomination and uphold their duty to preserve a fair and impartial court system for all Americans, regardless of who they are and who they love. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., was elected in the 3rd Congressional District in 2018.

Coronavirus pandemic Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.Political responses overviewState reopening plansDocumenting America's Path to RecoveryDaily updatesElection changesChanges to vote-by-mail and absentee voting proceduresFederal responsesState responsesState executive ordersStay-at-home ordersMultistate agreementsNon-governmental reopening plansEvictions and foreclosures policiesTravel restrictionsEnacted state legislationState legislative session changesSchool closuresState court closuresInmate releasesLocal government responsesDiagnosed or quarantined politiciansBallot measure changesArguments about government responsesThe 1918 influenza pandemicPandemic Response Accountability CommitteeUnemployment filingsLawsuitsSubmit On November 25, 2020, Lee announced she had tested positive for coronavirus.