President Donald Trump is seeking to pressure Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley to ram through more judicial nominees without buy-in from home-state Democratic senators.
“Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, 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,” Trump said in a Truth Social postTuesday. “Democrats like Schumer, Warner, Kaine, Booker, Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates.”
Trump added that Grassley should end the so-called blue slip veto practice “IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective.”
When asked about Trump’s comments Tuesday night, Grassley shrugged them off: “I’ve already spoken about the blue slip problem. And I’ve got no more to say than what I’ve been saying for 50 years.”
In a statement, a Grassley spokesperson also did not directly respond to the president’s post but indicated the 91-year-old lawmaker wouldn’t be changing his approach anytime soon.
“Chairman Grassley has already successfully moved U.S. Attorneys through committee who have received blue slips from Democrats, including Senators Warner and Kaine of Virginia and Klobuchar and Smith of Minnesota,” the spokesperson said. “When a nominee comes out of committee all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators’ input.”
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