Senate Republicans are usually in lockstep behind President Donald Trump’s priorities. But Republicans are standing by a key Senate tradition that gives the minority party veto power over some of the president’s key nominees.
Angered over Democratic obstruction of his picks, Trump is urging Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to do away with the “blue-slip” practice of allowing senators to nix nominees for district court judges, U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals in their home states.
Republicans are loath to go along with Trump because the blue slip is one of the few ways the GOP can exert power when they’re in the minority. And like with the filibuster, Senate Republicans so far haven’t been afraid to stand up to Trump to preserve their institutional prerogatives.
“Senators know nominees from their own states better than anybody in Washington, D.C., can know them, including the White House counsel’s office,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told us.
Grassley has defended the practice by noting that Republicans used blue slips during former President Joe Biden’s administration to keep liberals off the bench. The Iowa Republican also noted that a nominee without blue slip approval isn’t likely to win Senate confirmation either. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is aligned with Grassley on this as well.
Habba drama. Alina Habba’s nomination as U.S. attorney for New Jersey ignited the latest blue-slip controversy. Both of New Jersey’s Democratic senators are opposed to Habba’s nomination, denying Trump’s former personal lawyer a path to Senate confirmation.
Trump has attempted to sidestep the confirmation process in a bid to keep Habba in place as acting attorney, despite opposition from federal judges in the Garden State.
Habba attacked Grassley’s protection of the blue slip last month. But Grassley’s Senate GOP colleagues — even those who are among the chamber’s most steadfast Trump allies — are sticking by him.
“I yield to my committee chairman there,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said. “I don’t think anything’s going to change there.”
Grassley’s stance is drawing plaudits from top Democrats, too.
“It seems like Grassley is under a lot of pressure from Trump, but he’s holding firm here,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “The Senate has given away so much authority to the executive branch, and this is one area I hope we protect.”
The latest. Grassley on Wednesday made a unanimous-consent request to confirm a set of U.S. attorney nominees but it was blocked by Democrats. Grassley later bemoaned the “unprecedented obstruction on the floor” from the minority party.
