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November 17, 2017
Chuck Grassley had promised to respect the blue slip tradition.
I trust him to keep his word,” Sen. Patrick Leahy said.
For the six years he was in charge of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy—a Democrat—maintained the blue slip tradition. That is, if home-state Republicans objected to a judge nominated by President Obama, the nomination got pulled.
The question was: would Grassley stick to this rule when it meant giving Democrats the ability to block Trump’s nominees?
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-dr...-yet-again-that-their-promises-are-worthless/
There’s a long history as it pertains to the blue slip, but what’s most relevant is the last two years,” Feinstein said. “Republicans shouldn’t have one blue slip policy for Democratic presidents and another for Republican presidents.
“In 2015 and 2016, Chairman Grassley refused to allow multiple nominees of President Obama’s to have hearings because they didn’t have two blue slips from home-state senators.”
https://apnews.com/1483af6288e34ef7b16f55ab78f63f83
The blue slip process is a century-old Senate tradition that says the Judiciary Committee doesn’t hold a confirmation hearing for potential judges without approval from the candidate’s home-state senators. Senators return an actual blue slip to the committee.
Democrats pointed out that Grassley, as chairman during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, declined to hold hearings for nine of Obama's judicial picks because of the blue slip policy. Four were to the appellate courts, while five were district court nominees.
"Chairman Grassley’s decision do away with a 100-year old Senate tradition just 10 months into the Trump administration couldn’t be more troubling," said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “The lengths to which Republicans are going to jam extremely conservative and controversial nominees through the Senate is unprecedented.
"Republicans used blue slips for years to block President Obama’s nominees for the flimsiest reasons. Simply put, this was a test of Charles Grassley’s moral character. He failed.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/chuck-grassley-trump-court-picks-245367
Once, again, Republicans betray the trust involved in a gentleman's agreement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...81fd63f174d_story.html?utm_term=.c4f3be8f2ecc
Traditionally, senators representing states under the jurisdiction of a federal judgeship are asked to return a “blue slip” for nominees before the confirmation process commences. If an affected senator doesn’t return a blue slip — named so because it is actually a blue slip of paper — the nominee doesn’t receive a hearing.
Grassley argues that most Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen have not obeyed the blue slip process that strictly. And the GOP’s position is that making circuit court nominees who preside over several states dependent on every last senator returning a blue slip is irrational because it gives Democrats an effective political veto.
Under the blue slip process, some, but not all, chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee would not schedule hearings unless both home state senators returned forms — historically on blue sheets of paper — signaling their approval. At the start of the year, Grassley indicated he was still following this practice, delaying hearings for some nominees until Democrats returned their blue slips.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman...ey-could-block?utm_term=.uhLXX3Lpj#.rtyJJKvy8
Liberal groups denounced Grassley's announcement, noting that Republicans used unreturned blue slips to block former president Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including when Grassley was chairman of the committee.
Chairman Grassley has irretrievably sacrificed his own integrity in flip-flopping on the principle that blue slips must be respected," Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said in a statement.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/louisiana_politics_nov_17.html
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Thursday he’s going ahead with confirmation hearings for two appellate court nominees, Davis Stras of Minnesota and Kyle Duncan of Louisiana, even though they have not received the support of both of their home-state senators.
Chuck Grassley had promised to respect the blue slip tradition.
I trust him to keep his word,” Sen. Patrick Leahy said.
For the six years he was in charge of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy—a Democrat—maintained the blue slip tradition. That is, if home-state Republicans objected to a judge nominated by President Obama, the nomination got pulled.
The question was: would Grassley stick to this rule when it meant giving Democrats the ability to block Trump’s nominees?
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-dr...-yet-again-that-their-promises-are-worthless/
There’s a long history as it pertains to the blue slip, but what’s most relevant is the last two years,” Feinstein said. “Republicans shouldn’t have one blue slip policy for Democratic presidents and another for Republican presidents.
“In 2015 and 2016, Chairman Grassley refused to allow multiple nominees of President Obama’s to have hearings because they didn’t have two blue slips from home-state senators.”
https://apnews.com/1483af6288e34ef7b16f55ab78f63f83
The blue slip process is a century-old Senate tradition that says the Judiciary Committee doesn’t hold a confirmation hearing for potential judges without approval from the candidate’s home-state senators. Senators return an actual blue slip to the committee.
Democrats pointed out that Grassley, as chairman during the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency, declined to hold hearings for nine of Obama's judicial picks because of the blue slip policy. Four were to the appellate courts, while five were district court nominees.
"Chairman Grassley’s decision do away with a 100-year old Senate tradition just 10 months into the Trump administration couldn’t be more troubling," said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “The lengths to which Republicans are going to jam extremely conservative and controversial nominees through the Senate is unprecedented.
"Republicans used blue slips for years to block President Obama’s nominees for the flimsiest reasons. Simply put, this was a test of Charles Grassley’s moral character. He failed.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/chuck-grassley-trump-court-picks-245367
Once, again, Republicans betray the trust involved in a gentleman's agreement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...81fd63f174d_story.html?utm_term=.c4f3be8f2ecc
Traditionally, senators representing states under the jurisdiction of a federal judgeship are asked to return a “blue slip” for nominees before the confirmation process commences. If an affected senator doesn’t return a blue slip — named so because it is actually a blue slip of paper — the nominee doesn’t receive a hearing.
Grassley argues that most Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen have not obeyed the blue slip process that strictly. And the GOP’s position is that making circuit court nominees who preside over several states dependent on every last senator returning a blue slip is irrational because it gives Democrats an effective political veto.
Under the blue slip process, some, but not all, chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee would not schedule hearings unless both home state senators returned forms — historically on blue sheets of paper — signaling their approval. At the start of the year, Grassley indicated he was still following this practice, delaying hearings for some nominees until Democrats returned their blue slips.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman...ey-could-block?utm_term=.uhLXX3Lpj#.rtyJJKvy8
Liberal groups denounced Grassley's announcement, noting that Republicans used unreturned blue slips to block former president Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including when Grassley was chairman of the committee.
Chairman Grassley has irretrievably sacrificed his own integrity in flip-flopping on the principle that blue slips must be respected," Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said in a statement.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/louisiana_politics_nov_17.html
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Thursday he’s going ahead with confirmation hearings for two appellate court nominees, Davis Stras of Minnesota and Kyle Duncan of Louisiana, even though they have not received the support of both of their home-state senators.
