Posted on 09/08/2017 11:46:36 AM PDT by jazusamo
Oregon Sens.Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have announced plans to block President Trump’s nominee for the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a letter to the White House on Thursday, the two Democratic senators said they do not intend to return blue slips for Ryan Bounds “or any other nominee that has not been selected through our judicial process.”
“As you are aware, in May we wrote you to explain Oregon’s long bipartisan tradition of working together to identify the most qualified candidates for judicial vacancies,” they wrote.
“As senators charged with the task for advice and consent in the selection of candidates, we take our responsibility to identify and recommend candidates to fill Oregon judicial vacancies very seriously.”
Under the “blue-slip” process, the home state senators of a judicial nominee can object to the nomination by refusing to return the blue-colored paper of support to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Merkley and Wyden said Trump has demonstrated he’s only interested in their input if they willingly pre-approve his preferred nominees.
"The judicial selection process is not a rubber stamp and the insinuation that our offices were purposely delaying the process is an indication of the partisanship with which you are pursuing this nomination,” they said.
Bounds, who currently serves as the assistant United States attorney for the District of Oregon, was part of Trump’s seventh wave of judicial nominations on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken reportedly said he will oppose David Stras, Trump’s nominee to serve on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Senate Democrats eliminated the minority party’s power to filibuster judicial nominees for lower courts in 2013 and Republicans eliminated the process for Supreme Court picks last year, leaving the blue-slip tradition the only way for senators to veto controversial nominees.
In other news, the sun is expected to set in the west this evening.
can’t he just stack the courts with nominees from friendly states?
can’t he just stack the courts with nominees from friendly states?
So nominate a different conservative judge from another state where the senators won’t do that.
Time to dump Mitch-the-gobbler and not returning the blue slip.
It's a tradition ... it's not like it's a constitutional requirement. Time to do away with this "tradition" as well.
He could even do the same to Washington because of the State Attorney General signing onto that lawsuit. Right now the Norse Peak fire and the Jolly Mt. fire have consumed the equivalent of 3 townships. There is 23,040 acres in a township.
Why is it that the Democrats can always find a way to do something, and the Republican can never find a way to do anything?
...So nominate a different conservative judge from another state where the senators won’t do that..
Are any rex states in the 9th circuit?
If not, they will do the same thing on any Trump appointee that would move the 9th circuit from liberal lunacy.
Yep, but that eliminates any conservatives being nominated from OR, WA, CA and believe it or not there are some.
This blue-slip rule has to go or be drastically changed.
Red States too.
Go nuclear and end this ‘blue slip’ nonsense.
How long will McConnell let this go on? If there is one thing Trump is accomplishing, it is swinging the judiciary to the right.
It must have something to do with the leadership. :)
Schumer and Pelosi are talking as if they are holding the majority. Listen to their clips about DACA and the way they are talking. They are saying Republicans need to come to them to "fix" Obamacare. To "fix" DACA.
I fear that all of this is taking a toll on Trump.
“....and the Republican can never find a way to do anything?”
Because the Repubs do not try. They are disfunctional and need to be replaced. Useless to America.
Obvious b/s. Trump should go with the constitutional option. What would the liberal God FDR do?
IOW, We want a payoff.......................
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