Donald Trump has demanded that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley scrap a “ridiculous” tradition that allows home-state senators to block judicial nominees.
The president posted that Democrats will exploit it to “laugh” at Grassley and the Republicans.
In a lengthy tirade on Truth Social, Trump urged Grassley to eliminate the so-called “blue slip” custom, a decades-old Senate tradition that gives senators from a nominee’s home state the chance to object to federal judicial nominations.
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Trump argued that Democrats will abuse the process, which is meant to encourage bipartisan consultation, to obstruct his picks for key judicial positions with nothing more than “a mere flick of the pen.”
“Senator Grassley must step up, like Crooked Joe Biden did, when he openly broke, at least two times, the ‘Blue Slip’ SCAM, and like others have done over the years, and let our Great Republican Judges and U.S. Attorneys BE CONFIRMED,” Trump wrote.
“He should do this, IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective. The Democrats have broken this ridiculous custom on us, it’s time that we break it on them. Chuck, I know you have the Courage to do this, DO IT!”
The custom is named after the blue-colored form sent to senators seeking their approval or disapproval.
A spokesperson for Grassley, while not directly answering Trump’s new demand, noted that the Senate Judiciary chair had already successfully moved Trump’s picks for U.S. attorneys through his panel with blue slip support from Democratic senators such as Tim Kaine and Mark Warner in Virginia and Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
“When a nominee comes out of committee all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators’ input,” the spokesperson told the Daily Beast.
Speaking to Politico, the 91-year-old Grassley added he has no intention of changing his approach to sending out blue slips for federal court nominees.
“I’ve already spoken about the blue slip problem. And I’ve got no more to say than what I’ve been saying for 50 years,” he said.
