President Donald Trump has lashed out at Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley over his support for a longstanding Senate tradition that allows home-state senators to block judicial nominees.
The 79-year-old president raged on Truth Social against Senate Judiciary Chair Grassley, 92, over the so-called “blue slip” custom, which Trump called “old and ridiculous” and claimed was being unfairly used and abused by Democrats.
“I have eight GREAT U.S. Attorneys, Highly Respected ALL, who will not be confirmed for their positions in various Highly Consequential States only because they’re Republicans, and the Democrats have convinced Chuck Grassley to honor the stupid and outdated ‘Blue Slip’ tradition, which precludes very talented and dedicated people from attaining High Office,” Trump wrote.
“The Democrats violate this practice in order to get people in, but Republicans just don’t. These GREAT people’s careers have been badly hurt by the Radical Left Democrats, using an old and ridiculous custom strictly to their advantage. What a shame!”
The “blue slip” process is a decades-old Senate tradition that gives senators from a nominee’s home state the opportunity to object to federal judicial nominations. The practice is named after the blue-colored forms sent to senators to indicate their approval or disapproval.
In August, Democratic New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim opposed Trump loyalist Alina Habba’s nomination as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, forcing the president to withdraw the nomination of his former lawyer. Trump later attempted a convoluted maneuver to keep Habba in the role without Senate approval before a federal judge ruled that she was unlawfully serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.
Trump returned to the blue slip topic a few hours later in a late-night social media rant.
“A ‘Blue Slip’ means that if you’re a Republican President, and there happens to be just one Democrat Senator in a state where you are appointing a U.S. Attorney or District Court Judge, you will never be successful in getting a Republican confirmed,” Trump posted.
“In other words, ‘Blue Slips’ are a disaster, and I have eight GREAT Republican U.S. Attorney Candidates who will not be able to fulfill their service to the people of a state that voted overwhelmingly for me.”
Trump also blasted Grassley in August for refusing to scrap the blue slip process and keeping the process of only moving forward with judicial nominations once both of a state’s senators approve the candidate.
“Chuck Grassley should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles, and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to HELL!” Trump wrote in a lengthy tirade on Truth Social.
Grassley defended himself against the president’s attacks in August with a defiant X post.
“A U.S. Atty/district judge nominee without a blue slip does not hv the votes to get confirmed on the Senate floor & they don’t hv the votes to get out of [committee],” Grassley posted. “As chairman I set Pres Trump noms up for SUCCESS NOT FAILURE.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Grassley’s office for comment.
