Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Time to Do Away With the Blue Slip | Power Line

Time to Do Away With the Blue Slip | Power Line
"The “blue slip”–the power of senators to block judicial nominations within their states–is a venerable Senate tradition that has long outlived its usefulness. 
Similar to the filibuster, liberals view the blue slip either as incorrigible obstructionism or as the height of prudent constitutionalism, depending only on which party’s president is nominating judges.
Image result for "The “blue slip”Thus, when Barack Obama was doing the nominating, Jeffrey Toobin, in a New Yorker article headlined “Blue-Slip Battle: 
The Senate Obstructionists’ Secret Weapon,” wrote:
[A]s the blue-slip process illustrates, the Senate remains a balky, hidebound, and inefficient institution, and the President’s opponents will continue to do their best to keep it that way.
On the other hand, now that Donald Trump is in the White House, the New York Times sees the blue slip as the Democrats’ avenue to “impede the Trump administration’s judicial onslaught.” “Judicial onslaught” meaning, in this case, nominating judges to fill vacancies...
...The blue slip tradition is relatively recent, dating only to the early 20th century. 
It is found nowhere in the Senate rules, but rather is followed (or, sometimes, not) at the discretion of the Judiciary Committee chairman. 
So far, at least, Grassley has not indicated that he intends to do away with the blue slip..."

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