Trump 7th Cir. Nominee Michael Brennan Advances Without Blue Slip

Another one of President Donald Trump’s appellate judicial nominees advanced to the Senate floor today, highlighting debates over the “blue slip” tradition and implicit racial bias.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Michael B. Brennan’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by an 11-10 vote, despite the refusal of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to return a blue slip approving him.

Democratic senators have criticized the decision by the committee’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to hold hearings for nominees who haven’t received blue slip approvals from their home state senators.

Judge David Stras received a hearing ...