Grassley defies Trump demand to scrap Senate ‘blue slips’ for judicial picks

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The highest Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is once more standing agency in opposition to President Donald Trump’s demand that Senate custom be modified to ram via his district court docket and U.S. legal professional nominees.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley , R-Iowa, got here below hearth from Trump once more late Sunday evening over the Senate’s "blue slips," a longstanding apply within the higher chamber that the president desires to be carried out away with.

A blue slip successfully offers Senate Republicans and Democrats the flexibility to veto district court docket and U.S. legal professional nominees of their dwelling states.

TRUMP TELLS GRASSLEY TO TELL DEMOCRATS 'GO TO HELL' OVER BLOCKED JUDICIAL NOMINEES IN SENATE

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is seen throughout a affirmation listening to in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2025. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos)

However Grassley argued in a response on X Monday that with out blue slips, none of Trump’s nominees would cross muster within the Senate.

"A U.S. Atty/district decide nominee and not using a blue slip doesn't [have] the votes to get confirmed on the Senate flooring & they don’t [have] the votes to get out of [committee]," Grassley stated. "As chairman I set [President] Trump noms up for SUCCESS NOT FAILURE."

Trump argued that it was his constitutional proper to nominate judges and U.S. attorneys, however the suitable had been "utterly taken away from me in States which have only one Democrat United States Senator."

GRASSLEY REBUKES TRUMP'S PRESSURE TO 'HAVE THE COURAGE' TO SPEED UP NOMINATIONS

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters within the James Brady Press Briefing Room on the White Home on Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon)

"That is due to an outdated and outdated ‘customized’ often called a BLUE SLIP, that Senator Chuck Grassley, of the Nice State of Iowa, refuses to overturn, despite the fact that the Democrats, together with Crooked Joe Biden (Twice!), have carried out so on quite a few events," Trump stated.

"Subsequently, the one candidates that I can get confirmed for these most necessary positions are, imagine it or not, Democrats! Chuck Grassley ought to permit sturdy Republican candidates to ascend to those very important and highly effective roles, and inform the Democrats, as they usually inform us, to go to HELL," he continued.

TRUMP TELLS SCHUMER TO 'GO TO HELL' OVER SENATE NOMINEE DEAL FUNDING DEMANDS AFTER NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE

Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., joined by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., proper, converse to reporters following closed-door get together conferences on the Capitol in Washington on June 17, 2025. (AP Picture/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Democrats have certainly used the blue slip custom this 12 months to dam a few of Trump’s picks for the bench as a part of their broader log jam of his nominees.

For instance, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., used his blue slip privileges to nix Trump's U.S. Lawyer nominees for the Southern and Japanese Districts of New York.

And Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, each Democrats from New Jersey, used the blue slip to object to Alina Habba's nomination to U.S. Lawyer within the Backyard State. Habba was tapped by Trump to serve within the position on an interim foundation, however after her time period expired a panel of judges opted to not prolong her place.

A substitute was chosen however then fired by Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi. Trump then withdrew his nomination for Habba and restored her interim standing.

"Habba was withdrawn because the President's nominee for New Jersey U.S. Atty on July 24," Grassley stated. "[And] the [Judiciary Committee] by no means obtained any of the paperwork wanted for the Senate to vet her nomination."

Trump’s renewed ire comes after he singled out Grassley final month for not nixing the longstanding custom, which isn't a legislation, and demanded that he "have the braveness" to alter the apply.

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It additionally comes after Senate Republicans and Democrats failed to succeed in a deal on ramming via most of the president’s nominees earlier than leaving Washington for all of August.

Discovering a pathway ahead, together with a possible change to the Senate’s affirmation course of, is anticipated to be a prime precedence for Republicans after they return to the Hill after Labor Day.