Grassley ‘Offended’ by Trump Call to End Nominations Custom (1)

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said he was “offended” and “disappointed” by President Donald Trump’s social media post blasting him for preserving a longstanding custom that gives home-state senators approval over certain nominations.

“I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults. Now we’re here to do business—the very important part of this committee’s work—to do our constitutional duty of reviewing people that require Senate confirmation,” Grassley said at a Judiciary Committee nominations hearing on Wednesday about the blue slip tradition.

Trump called on Grassley by name to end the blue slip practice in a Tuesday post on the social media platform TruthSocial, claiming it has prevented him from appointing “Great Judges or U.S. Attorneys” in Democratic-controlled states like California, New York, and New Jersey.

Trump also said that Grassley “could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen.”

“He should do this, IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective,” Trump said.

The exchange comes as Grassley has pushed through a number of Trump’s judicial and law enforcement nominees, including Justice Department official Emil Bove. He was confirmed to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday despite multiple whistleblower allegations about his conduct and other complaints about his fitness for the job.

Blue Slip Future

The century-old blue slip custom involves senators marking a blue form to indicate support for a judicial or US attorney nominee.

While the Judiciary Committee’s Republican majority led by Grassley during the first Trump administration eliminated home-state senator sign off for circuit court nominees, the practice was retained for district court picks and for US attorneys.

The panel’s current top Judiciary panel Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, withstood pressure from progressives to ditch blue slips in order to expedite vetting and get more Joe Biden trial court picks through to confirmation.

Durbin on Wednesday thanked Grassley for his remarks and said that he’d given his word to maintain the blue slip custom and that he believes he “will stand by it.” Grassley responded “yes.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Wednesday the blue-slip is “something that’s been used for a long time by both sides” and that he didn’t think there’s “any strong interest in changing that up here.”

“We’ll see where the conversation goes with our colleagues, but I don’t sense any rush to change it,” Thune said.

US Attorneys

The second Trump administration has so far sought to circumvent the Senate by installing the president’s preferred US attorney candidates in blue states as interim and acting officials through unusual maneuvers, despite opposition by the Democratic senators.

The administration recently made Alina Habba, New Jersey’s controversial chief prosecutor, an “acting” US attorney after her 120-day interim term expired and fired the prosecutor selected to replace Habba by the federal trial court.

Similarly, in the Albany-based Northern District of New York, the Trump administration kept preferred candidate John Sarcone in place by naming him his own first assistant and then having him take on the role as acting US attorney.

A Grassley spokesperson said in a statement that the Iowa Republican “successfully moved” US attorneys through the Judiciary Committee with approval from Democratic home state senators, including in Virginia and Minnesota.

Erik Siebert, nominated to be US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Daniel Rosen, the US attorney nominee for the District of Minnesota were advanced by the judicial panel by voice votes this month. Both Virginia and Minnesota are represented by two Democratic senators.

After the panel advances a nominee, “all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators’ input,” the spokesperson said.