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donald trump He emphasized what he said of the Senate The “old and ridiculous custom” of using. “Blue Slip” traditionProcedural device that allows home-state senators to block nominees for federal judgeships and U.S. attorney positions.
Expressing his frustration in a post on his Truth social platform, Trump claimed that eight of his nominees – whom he described as “highly respected” – are being denied confirmation for positions in “highly consequential states” simply because they are Republicans.
He argued that this practice has become a partisan weapon, hindering appointments not on the basis of merit but on the basis of political identity.
“The careers of these great people have been badly damaged by radical leftist Democrats blatantly exploiting an outdated and ridiculous tradition for their own benefit,” Trump wrote. “What a shame!”
Trump further alleged that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have pressured its chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, to continue honoring the blue slip rule.
In August, Trump expressed anger that his constitutional right to appoint judges and U.S. attorneys was “completely taken away from me” in states where there is more than one Democratic senator, and suggested he might take legal action to prove that blue slipping is unconstitutional.
“We’re going to sue…blue slipping,” Trump told reporters Last month.
“You know, the blue slips make it impossible for me as president to appoint judges or U.S. attorneys because they have a gentlemen’s agreement. There’s nothing memorable about it, it’s a gentlemen’s agreement that’s almost 100 years old.”
What is blue slip system?
The “blue slip” is a long-standing Senate tradition that gives home-state senators authority over federal judicial nominees. When a President puts forward a nominee for a judgeship or U.S. Attorney position, two senators from that nominee’s state receive a blue slip on which they can support, oppose, or decline to respond.
Although this practice is not a formal rule, the Senate Judiciary Committee has historically considered the withdrawal – or withholding – of blue slips an important factor in deciding whether a nomination moves forward.
In effect, this system allows individual senators to have considerable influence over appointments in their states, and sometimes to have veto power.
However, since the system emerged in the early 20th century the rules and importance given to the process have changed, subverted, and been reinterpreted several times.
This has also been true in recent years – in 2017, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he did not believe a Trump pick should be blocked just because the blue slip was not returned.
In those days, He said The blue slip should be seen as a “bus” [a] Notification of how you are going to vote, not as an opportunity to blackball a nominee.
This was effectively put into practice, as in February 2019, one of Trump’s picks, attorney Eric Miller, was confirmed to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, even though his two home-state senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats from Washington state, had not returned the blue slip for him.
He became the first federal judicial nominee to be confirmed in defiance of the blue slip system.
Several other nominees have been appointed without two positive blue slips by both Trump (total 17) and Joe Biden, who appointed six nominees despite opposition during his presidency.
However, the rules have changed again, which explains Trump’s current frustration. In the final months of Biden’s presidency, then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin proposed restoring blue slips on circuit court nominees to restore power to the minority party to block judicial nominees to the White House.
Senior Republicans and Democrats agreed to return to the system, with a decision to be made before presidential election day on November 5, 2024. This gamble would only be beneficial to the losing party, in this case, the Democrats, as Trump returned to power.