The Senate’s adherence to the blue slip tradition is standing in the way of Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan’s nominations. But Senate Republicans aren’t budging.
Republican senators are standing by the longstanding practice of allowing senators to have veto power on home-state nominees, even amid twin setbacks for President Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney picks.
Over the past two weeks, courts have ruled that Halligan, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Habba, acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, were improperly nominated to their roles. And in the Senate, both nominees lacked sign-off from their Democratic home state senators.
For now, Senate Republicans are standing by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and his defense of the blue slip. While the practice is benefiting blue-state Democrats at this time, Republicans note that it’s helped them under Democratic administrations.
“It’s proved to be very useful in previous administrations by Republicans when we were in the minority,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said.
“I support Sen. Grassley and his support of the blue slip,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) added. “I’d like to see the preservation of it.”
It’s a rare instance of daylight between Trump and Senate Republicans. The president has railed against the tradition and sees it as an obstacle to getting his nominees approved.
Grassley’s team alluded to the practice when commenting on the news that a federal appeals court invalidated Habba’s nomination.
“U.S. Attorney and district judge nominees without blue slips don’t have the votes to get through committee or pass on the Senate floor,” Grassley spokesperson Clare Slattery said in a statement.
