Latest news with #BlueSlip
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump presses Grassley to end Democrats' veto power on district judges, US attorneys
President Trump late Tuesday pressed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to end the panel's 'blue slip' tradition of allowing home-state senators to veto nominees to district courts and U.S. attorneys' offices. 'Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the 'Blue Slip' problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,' Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump fumed that Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) have used blue slips to block 'Great Republican candidates' and said the practice is 'probably Unconstitutional,' even though the Supreme Court has held that both chambers of Congress can set their own rules. Traditionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairs haven't proceeded on federal district-level judicial and prosecutorial nominees unless both senators representing the state where those districts are located return blue-slip documents signing off on the nominees. Trump this month was forced to withdraw the nomination of his former defense lawyer, Alina Habba, to serve as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey after Booker and New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim (D) opposed her nomination. Schumer also refused to return blue slips consenting to Trump's nominations of Jay Clayton to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and Joseph Nocella Jr. to be U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Schumer blasted Trump's picks as being driven by 'blatant and depraved political motivations' that he called 'deeply corrosive to the rule of law.' Clayton previously served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and does not have any criminal law experience, while Nocella served as a prosecutor in the Eastern District from 1991-95 and has been active in local Republican politics. A spokesperson for Grassley said the 91-year-old senator who has been in office since 1981 has moved several of Trump's U.S. attorney nominees in Democratic-led states. 'Chairman Grassley has already successfully moved U.S. Attorneys through committee who have received blue slips from Democrats, including Senators Warner and Kaine of Virginia and Klobuchar and Smith of Minnesota. When a nominee comes out of committee all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators' input,' the spokesperson said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Raging Trump Orders Top Republican to Stop Letting Democrats Laugh at Him
Donald Trump has demanded that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley scrap a 'ridiculous' tradition that allows home-state senators to block judicial nominees. The president posted that Democrats will exploit it to 'laugh' at Grassley and the Republicans. In a lengthy tirade on Truth Social, Trump urged Grassley to eliminate the so-called 'blue slip' custom, a decades-old Senate tradition that gives senators from a nominee's home state the chance to object to federal judicial nominations. Trump argued that Democrats will abuse the process, which is meant to encourage bipartisan consultation, to obstruct his picks for key judicial positions with nothing more than 'a mere flick of the pen.' 'Senator Grassley must step up, like Crooked Joe Biden did, when he openly broke, at least two times, the 'Blue Slip' SCAM, and like others have done over the years, and let our Great Republican Judges and U.S. Attorneys BE CONFIRMED,' Trump wrote. 'He should do this, IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective. The Democrats have broken this ridiculous custom on us, it's time that we break it on them. Chuck, I know you have the Courage to do this, DO IT!' The custom is named after the blue-colored form sent to senators seeking their approval or disapproval. A spokesperson for Grassley, while not directly answering Trump's new demand, noted that the Senate Judiciary chair had already successfully moved Trump's picks for U.S. attorneys through his panel with blue slip support from Democratic senators such as Tim Kaine and Mark Warner in Virginia and Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith. 'When a nominee comes out of committee all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators' input,' the spokesperson told the Daily Beast. Speaking to Politico, the 91-year-old Grassley added he has no intention of changing his approach to sending out blue slips for federal court nominees. 'I've already spoken about the blue slip problem. And I've got no more to say than what I've been saying for 50 years,' he said.
Boston Globe
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
GOP Senator Chuck Grassley says he was ‘offended' and ‘disappointed' by Trump's insults in post on judicial nominees
In a on the Judiciary Committee that lets home-state senators block judicial nominees. Advertisement If a home-state senator supports the nominee, they return the blue slip and the process moves forward. If a home-state senator is opposed, they do not return the blue slip and the nomination's usually halted before a hearing is held. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the 'Blue Slip' problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,' Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. In his post, Trump lashed out at several Democrats, calling Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Mark Warner of Virgina, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Adam Schiff of California 'SLEAZEBAGS ALL.' He accused them of using the process to impose an 'ironclad stoppage' on Republican judicial nominees. Advertisement 'Senator Grassley must step up, like Crooked Joe Biden did, when he openly broke, at least two times, the 'Blue Slip' SCAM, and like others have done over the years, and let our Great Republican Judges and U.S. Attorneys BE CONFIRMED,' Trump wrote. Trump concluded his post by demanding that Grassley find the 'courage' to end the blue-slip practice 'IMMEDIATELY.' On Wednesday, he reposted several Truth Social messages supporting his stance, including one that called for imposing term limits on lawmakers. The Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushed back on eliminating the blue-slip tradition, pointing out that Republicans relied on it during former president Joe Biden's term. 'I don't sense any rush to change it,' Thune told reporters Wednesday. Alyssa Vega can be reached at
Fox News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Grassley rebukes Trump's pressure to 'have the courage' to speed up nominations
President Donald Trump pressured the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to end a longstanding practice in the Senate to expedite his nominations to district courts and U.S. attorney's offices, but the lawmaker isn't budging. Trump late Tuesday night demanded that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, "have the courage" to end the "blue slip" tradition in the Senate, which effectively gives senators the ability to veto district court and U.S. attorney nominees in their home states. He charged that the practice was "probably unconstitutional," and lamented that a president would "never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice" because of it. "Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the 'Blue Slip' problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen," Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform. "Democrats like Schumer, Warner, Kaine, Booker, Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates," he continued. The 91-year-old Grassely, who has been a member of Congress since 1975 and in the Senate since 1981, handily beat his previous opponent by over 12 points three years ago. The longtime lawmaker addressed Trump's comments during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that he was surprised to see the president "go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the 'blue slip.'" "Now, to people in the Real America — not here in Washington, D.C., an island surrounded by reality — the people in Real America don't care about what the 'blue slip' is, but, in fact, it impacts the district judges who serve their communities and the U.S. Attorneys who ensure law and order is enforced," Grassley said. "I was offended by what the President said, and I'm disappointed that it would result in personal insults." Trump's fury comes as Senate Republicans are working to ram as many of his nominees through Senate Democrats' blockade as possible. Currently, lawmakers are working on a deal to get more low-hanging fruit nominations, like ambassadors, through in a large group rather than eating away at floor time. One instance where Democrats have opted to block some of Trump's nominees came earlier this year when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., used his blue slip privileges to nix Trump's U.S. Attorney nominees for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. "Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies," Schumer said at the time. "Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of Donald Trump's intentions for these important positions," he said.
