The Republicans of the Senate debate the future of the tradition of blue underwear in the middle of confirmation

President Donald Trump called on Tuesday at the end of the “Blue Slip” Senate policy, renewing the debate on the 108 -year practice which gives senators a fundamental role in the judicial confirmations of their states of origin.

Trump put pressure for the president of the Senate judicial committee, Senator Chuck Grassley job On Tuesday, the exhortant to accelerate a process of appointment which was slow by an unprecedented democratic blockage and left the Senate to wade for hours of racing votes to force the appointments.

“”[Grassley] Could solve the problem of “blue pants” that we have with regard to the appointment of highly qualified judges and American lawyers, with a simple pen, “wrote the president.”[L]And our great republican judges and American lawyers are confirmed. He should do it immediately, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the republican party to be weak and ineffective. »»

The Blue Slip is a long -standing tradition in the Senate which gives senators of the original state a word to say in the confirmation process of certain presidential candidates. When the president appoints someone to a position as a federal judge or to the post of American lawyer in a particular state, the judicial committee of the Senate sends a form of blue color to the two senators of the candidate’s original state.

Senators of the original state then return the signed blue shift – indicating the candidate’s approval – or hold the slip, indicating a refusal to approve the candidate. Historically, it acted as an effective veto of the candidate. Blue policy as a whole is not devoted, however, in the rules or the law of the Senate. (Related: “ dangerous game ”: The GOP of the Senate warns against reprisals if the demons do not strengthen Trump’s candidates)

Trump’s call to Grassley to get around the Blue Slip Custom sparked a debate on Wednesday concerning practice.

“The Blue Slip is a long and darling tradition. The two Democratic presidents and the Republican presidents asked us to get rid of it – we have never done it, and I hope that we will never do it,” Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy said on Wednesday. “Senators are much better able to choose a lawyer from their community who satisfies what I call community standards. The presidents are more distant from the states. They do not have this knowledge of the community, and I think it is a very good thing for the Senate to have the contribution. ”

“I say that to the president: with respect, Mr. President, pretty, with sugar at the top, back up, because I do not think the Senate has”, and I think it’s just an unnecessary fight, “said Kennedy.

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson told journalists that he disagreed with the president on the abolition of the courtesy of the Blue. He described how the Slip Blue allows appointments in divided sharing states, which would otherwise lead to what he called “political physics” – delayed reprisals – in the case of advanced candidates, regardless of the wishes of senators in the state of state.

“I just think that, again, they are people of the orbit of the president advising him on politics, who face to face obviously. But the fact is that whoever advised him on this policy does not have a brain on this subject,” said Johnson.

The problem saw bipartite support for maintaining the previous Blue Slip. The Democratic Senator of Connecticut Richard Blumenthal agreed with his GOP counterparts on the need to pursue the use of blue slips in the appointment process, echoing the language of Senator Kennedy and the merit of “community standards”.

“President Trump makes a lot of comments on how the Senate should be managed,” Blumenthal told journalists. “I think we have traditions in the Senate that he may not like, but they tend to preserve the quality of local prosecutors and judges who president that we represent, and we know who is qualified in these places.”

Sioux City, IA – November 03: Senator Charles Grassley (R -A) joins former American president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Sioux Gateway airport on November 3, 2022 in Sioux City, Iowa. Trump held the rally to support Iowa Gop candidates before the state mid-term elections on November 8. (Photo of Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

The Missouri republican senator Josh Hawley expressed a sympathetic vision of the president’s call to remove the courtesy of Blue Slip, telling the Daily Caller News foundation that, as a duly elected president, Trump has the right to appoint his judges.

“I just say to my Democratic colleagues:” You are driving this point. You say that you all want to protect the Senate, but will put you at the end of that of the Senate. We must be able to work, ”Hawley told DCNF.

The Blue Slip process is not written in law and has not been unshakable in its history.

The evolution of the graceful blue brief has led a certain number of candidates confirmed in the last two administrations despite the objections of the senators of the original state. These include confirmations of the judges of the circuit courtyard David Stras, Kyle Duncan and Andre Mathis from 2017 to 2022, who were all opposed by their respective senators and were then confirmed.

In 2017, Grassley released a writing statement Describing its attitude towards the blue slip process, illuminating an evolutionary vision of courtesy and establishing a position which has reduced the power of the approval of the original state.

“TThe blue brief is just that – a courtesy, “wrote Grassley.” But some of my democratic colleagues and left -wing groups wrongly claim that the blue briefs offer a veto of the senator at home on a candidate. This is not true.

“I will not allow the White House to make senators fail at home. But, as I have always said, I will not allow the blue sliding process,” wrote Grassley.

Trump backlog of almost 150 nominees on hold confirmation To the Senate with in a tight place while August is closer. The call of the president for the suspension of Blue Slip Courtesie can be the only way for the majority of the GOP to establish the process and to browse the list before adjournment.

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