Trump takes aim at Senate 'blue slip' tradition as GOP resists change
Who benefits from this decision?
President Donald Trump is waging war against a century-old tradition in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats don’t want to touch.
Trump has ebbed and flowed in his disdain for the blue slip tradition in the upper chamber, taking out his frustrations on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans who have drawn a firm line in the sand for their support of the practice.
Much of his anger stemmed from the blue slip’s role in derailing a pair of his hand-picked U.S. attorney nominees — Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — last year.
SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS
Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should "get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with US attorneys or having to do with judges."
But the practice, which has been around since World War I, is likely not going anywhere, given that it’s been a valuable tool for minority parties to block nominees.
The tradition allows for home state senators to weigh in on judicial nominees, giving them a say on who does and doesn’t move forward. Returning a blue slip is the equivalent of giving a thumbs up to the nominees moving forward, while keeping the slip effectively blocks the process.
While the tradition was used to block both Halligan and Habba, both of whom served as Trump’s attorneys while in between stints in the White House, Republicans have still been successful in confirming several of the president’s judicial picks.
REPUBLICANS NARROWLY REJECT EFFORTS TO HANDCUFF TRUMP'S WAR POWERS IN VENEZUELA
Grassley noted in a post on X that "nearly 1/5 of the 417 nominees who were confirmed this [year] went" through his committee.
"I’m ready to process even more in the new [year] just need materials from WH and DOJ so [committee] can continue contributing to Senate's historic nominations progress," he said.
While Senate Democrats tried to block as many of Trump’s nominees throughout last year, Republicans changed the rules to ram more through. That resulted in the upper chamber confirming 36 U.S. attorneys and 26 federal judges.
Four of those were from Democratic senators with blue slips in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, where the Trump administration’s usage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has faced legal challenges.
Both of Minnesota’s Democratic Sen…
Who benefits from this decision?
President Donald Trump is waging war against a century-old tradition in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats don’t want to touch.
Trump has ebbed and flowed in his disdain for the blue slip tradition in the upper chamber, taking out his frustrations on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans who have drawn a firm line in the sand for their support of the practice.
Much of his anger stemmed from the blue slip’s role in derailing a pair of his hand-picked U.S. attorney nominees — Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — last year.
SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS
Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should "get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with US attorneys or having to do with judges."
But the practice, which has been around since World War I, is likely not going anywhere, given that it’s been a valuable tool for minority parties to block nominees.
The tradition allows for home state senators to weigh in on judicial nominees, giving them a say on who does and doesn’t move forward. Returning a blue slip is the equivalent of giving a thumbs up to the nominees moving forward, while keeping the slip effectively blocks the process.
While the tradition was used to block both Halligan and Habba, both of whom served as Trump’s attorneys while in between stints in the White House, Republicans have still been successful in confirming several of the president’s judicial picks.
REPUBLICANS NARROWLY REJECT EFFORTS TO HANDCUFF TRUMP'S WAR POWERS IN VENEZUELA
Grassley noted in a post on X that "nearly 1/5 of the 417 nominees who were confirmed this [year] went" through his committee.
"I’m ready to process even more in the new [year] just need materials from WH and DOJ so [committee] can continue contributing to Senate's historic nominations progress," he said.
While Senate Democrats tried to block as many of Trump’s nominees throughout last year, Republicans changed the rules to ram more through. That resulted in the upper chamber confirming 36 U.S. attorneys and 26 federal judges.
Four of those were from Democratic senators with blue slips in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, where the Trump administration’s usage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has faced legal challenges.
Both of Minnesota’s Democratic Sen…
Trump takes aim at Senate 'blue slip' tradition as GOP resists change
Who benefits from this decision?
President Donald Trump is waging war against a century-old tradition in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats don’t want to touch.
Trump has ebbed and flowed in his disdain for the blue slip tradition in the upper chamber, taking out his frustrations on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans who have drawn a firm line in the sand for their support of the practice.
Much of his anger stemmed from the blue slip’s role in derailing a pair of his hand-picked U.S. attorney nominees — Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — last year.
SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS
Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should "get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with US attorneys or having to do with judges."
But the practice, which has been around since World War I, is likely not going anywhere, given that it’s been a valuable tool for minority parties to block nominees.
The tradition allows for home state senators to weigh in on judicial nominees, giving them a say on who does and doesn’t move forward. Returning a blue slip is the equivalent of giving a thumbs up to the nominees moving forward, while keeping the slip effectively blocks the process.
While the tradition was used to block both Halligan and Habba, both of whom served as Trump’s attorneys while in between stints in the White House, Republicans have still been successful in confirming several of the president’s judicial picks.
REPUBLICANS NARROWLY REJECT EFFORTS TO HANDCUFF TRUMP'S WAR POWERS IN VENEZUELA
Grassley noted in a post on X that "nearly 1/5 of the 417 nominees who were confirmed this [year] went" through his committee.
"I’m ready to process even more in the new [year] just need materials from WH and DOJ so [committee] can continue contributing to Senate's historic nominations progress," he said.
While Senate Democrats tried to block as many of Trump’s nominees throughout last year, Republicans changed the rules to ram more through. That resulted in the upper chamber confirming 36 U.S. attorneys and 26 federal judges.
Four of those were from Democratic senators with blue slips in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, where the Trump administration’s usage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has faced legal challenges.
Both of Minnesota’s Democratic Sen…
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