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.
Arizona, Montana, Idaho.
But there is a long-standing tradition about dividing up judgeships in Circuit Courts among the states in that Circuit, so that this vacancy is considered an "Oregon seat." Not a law, but a tradition that has been followed by both parties for decades.
Mitch is too much of a coward to do away with this unconstitutional “tradition”.
To hell with these traditions. They are just devices designed to create excuses.
Also Alaska. And Nevada, if you can still count it as red.
I wish McConnell would find some balls and eliminate blue slips. Not going to happen.
You will never, and have never, found the stupid GOP willing to employ this level of blanket objections to nearly all Trump’s judicial nominees that the Dims are employing against Trump.
I have a solution for this for Trump. I will try to get it communicated to him/Sessions privately.
“bipartisan” my arse...
Unless a senator give a solid justification this rule should be changed. Holding up a hearing for no reason is just plain unAmerican and cannot stand. There are other senate rules that need to be changed or deleted.
Do they only plan to block 9th Cir candidates from their state of Oregon, or do they plan to block all 9th Cir candidates, regardless of what 9th Cir state the candidate comes from?
These two can only block nominees in OR but WA and CA have RAT senators also.
Can’t have some intelligent, competent legal mind fouling up the 9th Circus Court.....
You are much to polite and kind.
Dear Lord,
Please send down one of YOUR Lightening Bolts to blast these evil perverts back to the Theological Place of Eternal Punishment; from which they escaped, and to which they so richly deserve to be returned.
5th MEB.
Your prayer is SO much better!
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