blue
slip
(Senate
Judiciary
Committee
via
Alliance
for
Justice).
The
“blue
slip”
tradition,
requiring
home
state
senator
approval
for
judicial
nominees,
is
back
in
the
news.
If
the
tradition
of
getting
senators
to
sign
off
on
a
president’s
judicial
nominees
—
potentially
of
another
political
party
—
seems
like
it’s
from
a
bygone
era,
well,
you’re
not
entirely
wrong.
During
Trump’s
first
term
in
office,
the
GOP
abandoned
the
custom
for
appellate
nominees
in
order
to
stack
the
judiciary
with
far-right
acolytes.
Since
then,
Dems
have,
more
or
less,
stuck
with
the
system
(only
two
nominees
by
Joe
Biden
were
confirmed
without
blue
slips).
The
Democrats’
unwillingness
to
fight
fire
with
fire
severely
limited Biden’s
ability
to
counter
the
tremendous
influence
Trump
was
able
to
exert
in
his
first
term
as
president.
Though
Biden
shepherded
a
number
of
judicial
appointees
through
the
process,
he
abandoned
valuable
appellate
court
seats
to
preserve
the
blue
slip
tradition.
Now
that
the
GOP
is
back
in
power,
Senate
Judiciary
Chair
Chuck
Grassley
has
held
the
line
on
blue
slips for
district
court
and
U.S.
attorney
nominations
and
Donald
Trump
is
NOT
HAPPY
—
which
we
know
thanks
to
an
unhinged
social
media
rant.
And
because
it
is
2025,
Grassley
responded…
on
social
media.
Plus
there’s
the
way
the
blue
slips
have
affirmatively
*helped*
the
GOP.
But
why
would
Trump
listen
to
reason
when
he’s
decided
he’s
angry
about
something?
At
a
press
conference
earlier
today,
Trump
announced
a
questionable
lawsuit
about
the
practice.
“We’re
…
going
to
be
filing
a
lawsuit
on
blue
slipping,”
Trump
told
reporters.
“You
know,
blue
slips
make
it
impossible
for
me
as
president
to
appoint
a
judge
or
U.S.
Attorney
because
they
have
a
gentlemen’s
agreement.
It’s
nothing
memorialized,
it’s
a
gentlemen’s
agreement
that’s
about
100
years
old.”
Not
every
Republican
sees
the
benefit
of
forcing
through
Trump
nominees
(cough,
Alina
Habba,
cough,
cough)
without
blue
slips.
Senator
Tom
Tillis
sees
the
shortsightedness
of
forcing
the
issue.
We’ll
see
if
Trump
goes
through
with
his
promised
lawsuit
over
the
practice
—
but
it’s
not
the
most
ridiculous
loser
argument
the
Department
of
Justice
has
been
forced
to
make
in
court
at
Trump’s
behest.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].