Former President Trump is urging GOP senators to reconsider the blue slip process for U.S. attorney nominations, criticizing it as unconstitutional and highlighting its role in delaying appointments, amid ongoing political disputes over judicial confirmations.
President Trump’s attempt to appoint Lindsay Halligan as U.S. attorney in Virginia faces opposition from Democratic senators due to her lack of prosecutorial experience and concerns over political influence, highlighting ongoing tensions over judicial and attorney appointments and the use of the blue slip process in the Senate.
President Trump is pushing to end the century-old Senate 'blue slip' tradition that allows home state senators to approve or object to judicial nominees, facing resistance from Senate Republicans like Chuck Grassley who defend the tradition. Trump argues the process is unconstitutional and plans to file a lawsuit, while Senate Republicans warn that abolishing it could lead to more liberal judges being confirmed, emphasizing the tradition's importance in Senate governance.
President Donald Trump has called for the elimination of the 'Blue Slip' tradition in the Senate, a process that allows home-state senators to veto judicial and federal prosecutor nominations, arguing it is a 'SCAM' and seeking to influence judicial appointments.
Senate Republicans have blocked one of Joe Biden's judicial nominees, and the White House is not intervening in the debate around blue slips, a procedural tool used to clog the judicial nomination pipeline. There are currently nearly 40 judicial vacancies that Biden could seek to fill in courts in red states, but the blue slip custom generally dictates that if a home-state senator doesn’t return the blue slip, the majority party halts the nomination. Biden has not joined progressives in calling for Democrats to ignore blue slips, and Senate Democrats are generally deferring to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin on the issue.