Posted on 02/24/2019 3:55:43 PM PST by jazusamo
The Senate is set to escalate a long simmering fight over President Trump's judicial nominees.
Republicans are poised to confirm a pick for the influential circuit courts next week without the support of either of the nominee's home-state senators—a first for the Trump era.
Eric Miller is the first appeals judge to get a vote on the Senate floor this year, and the 31st of Trump’s presidency. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set up an initial vote on his Ninth Circuit nomination for Monday evening.
“The judicial train is running in the committee and it will soon hit the floor,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Miller’s nomination is set to revive a feud over “blue slips,” a paper that indicates if a home-state senator supports a nomination.
Though the Senate confirmed several appeals judges who were missing one blue slip last year, Miller would be the first circuit court nominee to be confirmed without getting a blue slip from either senator.
Democrats argue Republicans are trying to defang the minority by moving nominees even if they don’t have the support of a home-state senator.
Spokespeople for Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a member of Democratic leadership, and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), confirmed to The Hill on Friday that they did not return a blue slip on Miller’s nomination.
Murray first announced late last year that she wouldn’t return her blue slip for Miller, arguing that Republicans were trying to place “extreme conservatives" on the court.
"This needs to end. So I am not going to be complicit in this latest rushed process to load the courts with Trump nominees in the lame duck session and I will not be returning the blue slip that signals my approval of this process," Murray said in a statement at the time.
The blue-slip rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — has historically allowed a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return the blue slip to the Judiciary Committee.
How strictly the precedent is upheld is decided by the committee chairman, and enforcement has varied depending on who wields the gavel.
But the use of the blue slip has emerged as a flash point during the Trump administration as several Democratic senators have refused to return their paperwork on circuit court nominees from their home states, setting up a round of fights between Democrats and the White House.
Democrats went “nuclear” to nix the 60-vote filibuster for district and circuit judges in 2013, leaving the blue slip as one of the few options left for a home-state senator who is in the minority to try and hold up a nominee they oppose.
“We are unilaterally disarming the Senate Judiciary Committee in a way that will have collateral damage well beyond the immediate goal of packing the courts with these nominees in a great rush,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the committee, said during an hours-long, contentious hearing earlier this month.
Democrats and outside groups say Miller would be the first known example in the roughly 100 years that a blue slip has existed of a circuit nominee getting confirmed without either home state senator returning the slip of paper.
“There are no known instances in which a nominee has ever been confirmed over the objections of both home-state senators. The Senate must not let Mr. Miller be the first, or it will strip senators of their constitutional role of providing advice and consent for appellate appointments in their states from this and all future administrations,” Vanita Gupta, the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, wrote in a letter to senators.
Ryan Bounds, a nominee for a different Ninth Circuit seat, was poised to be the first last year when the Senate brought his nomination up for a vote without either Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) or Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) returning a blue slip. But his nomination was withdrawn after GOP Sen. Tim Scott(S.C.) said he wouldn’t support him.
Republicans infuriated Democrats when they held a hearing for Miller during the October recess last year when most lawmakers were out of town. GOP aides argued that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, had agreed to the dates, but Democrats say they did not agree to move forward if the Senate was not in session.
Only two senators of the then-21 member panel attended the hearing, with Miller only getting asked two questions by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). Neither Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who was then chairman, or any of the Democratic senators were there.
Republicans have dismissed complaints from Democrats over moving circuit court nominees despite the objections of home-state senators, arguing that Democrats are trying to apply a standard not enforced by most Judiciary Committee chairmen.
“Now you’re complaining about the fact that we won’t allow two senators to take over the entire process? The blue slip process for circuit judges are not gonna be allowed to become a veto,” Graham said on Friday.
Republicans view the courts as their best shot for the party having a long-term impact.
Appeals courts, in particular, are a top priority for McConnell because the circuit courts hear thousands of cases every year— compared to the Supreme Court which heard 69 cases during their last term —and often have the final say for states within their jurisdiction.
Republicans set a record for the number of appeals judges confirmed during an administration’s first two years and McConnell, speaking at a Heritage Foundation event shortly before the midterms, pledged that “if we hold the Senate I assure you we will complete the job of transforming the federal judiciary.”
Miller was one of more than forty nominees that were approved by the Judiciary Committee earlier this month and sent onto the full Senate for a vote. Of those nominations, six were circuit pick nominees.
Graham indicated on Friday that Republicans have approximately eight to 10 circuit nominations to fill in 2019. He’s also got looming fights over three Ninth Circuit nominees from California after Feinstein and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who is running for president, came out against the administration’s picks.
“We’ve got a real queue. ...Trust me on this, we will get our judges to the floor,” Graham added. “Whatever you want to say about Mitch McConnell he’s done a hell of a job when it comes to processing judges.”
Wonder what percentage of Appeals Court judges are pulled from the District courts...
If it is significant, why allow Democrats to determine the field of candidates???
I couldn’t agree more.
I believe the history of it was to show a courtesy to home state senators on nominees and was rarely used. Now it has become a tool of obstructionism and and a gotcha thing.
Dump it now.
We won, you lost.
ESAD.
Regards.
Senate reignites blue slip war over Trump court picks
s/b
Demwits reignite blue slip war over Trump court picks
The hell with some idiotic arcane Senate sorority rule. There is nothing in the Constitution about “blue slips”.
Wonder what percentage of Appeals Court judges are pulled from the District courts...
If it is significant, why allow Democrats to determine the field of candidates???
*************************************************************
7 of the current vacancies as well as one of the known near-term future vacancies are vacant because the prior incumbent has been elevated. So yes, the District Courts in some measure serve as “farm teams” for nominees to the Courts of Appeals. If we ACTUALLY fill all the vacancies with Trump nominees, the District Courts will be an even RICHER source of Court of Appeals judges.
Get off your dead ass, Lindsay!
Ram ‘em through Turtle! All of them.
Renominate Ryan Bounds and ram him through too.
Graham said he will honor blue slips for district court judges <<<<
WHY????....Does he think there is some kind of “Honor” left in the Senate???
I remember seeing some video of that ancient and senile West Virginian - Sennu-tah Rob-baht Byrd - waxing eloquent about how he loved the institution of the U.S. Senate and its truhhdishuns.
And this blue slip $h1t and the like is the kind of stuff I think he liked the MOST. Skroo the Constitution and the laws - we’ll just make up stuff because we have our little club here and everyone who is a member gets rich and gets to be cossetted in luxury in the U.S. Capitol while telling other people what they can and can’t do with their lives, and taking more and more freedoms away.
This MAGA may not last forever, but it sure is nice.
Thank you President Donald J. Trump!!
NOVEMBER 2016 - BEST ELECTION EVER -
The 9th Circuit is the dims rubber stamp court. No wonder they are squealing like a pig.
The 9th Circuit is the dims rubber stamp court. No wonder they are squealing like a pig.
Finally! Lindsey must lurk on FR....
If the repub party is to survive the repub quislings need to quickly approve ALL of President Trump’s nominees .
‘If the repub party is to survive the repub quislings need to quickly approve ALL of President Trump’s nominees .’
They have the numbers to do it. I guess we’ll see if the repubs have the spine to do it. It could happen but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
I can’t seem to find any mention of blue slips in the Constitution.
So in Graham being intentionally obtuse or is he really that shallow???
Since you like to post the same reply to threads on judicial nominations, I’ll post my same reply to you
The President’s nominations are there. They’ve been there for quite some time. But the REPUBLICAN Senate has chosen to not act on them....for more than four months.
All the excuses about McCain and Flake no longer hold water. The Republican Senate, led by McConnell, simply REFUSE to confirm President Trump’s picks.
This is NOT the President’s fault. It is the fault of his enemy, the GOP!
The Democrats have created the war over judicial nominees. They also obstructing everything Trump so this action is necessary to stop their total obstruction. Withholding their BlueSlips has nothing to do with the qualifications and has everything to do with ideology and obstruction of Trump.
Blue Slip, Blue $HIT!
This an appointment to a FEDERAL court, NOT a California court.
This court decides NATIONAL issues. What business is it of the states senators other than their ONE vote out of 100?
This Blue Slip $HIT has got to END! or show me the words “blue slip” in the constitution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.