The Senate Judiciary Committee may revert its process for confirming circuit court judges to allow for more rights for the minority party — if both parties can come to an agreement before November.
The so-called “blue slip” prevented circuit court judicial nominees from proceeding unless both senators from the state approved of the pick. The tool was scrapped in 2017 under GOP control of the Senate and was not restored when Democrats took over the majority in 2021. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) opened the door to reinstating the policy during a committee hearing last week but said it would have to be approved by both parties.
“If we are going to do anything on blue slips on circuit court judges, I think there’s one premise: We should do it prospectively, not knowing the outcome of an election that may change the presidency or may not. That is a fair way to approach it,” Durbin said at a hearing last week.
“If there’s any members of the committee that want to start an active conversation along those lines, I’d be glad to join it,” he added.
Since Durbin indicated he is willing to discuss bringing back the “blue slip,” a few Republicans told Politico that they would be willing to bring back the tool.
“I think it’s a good thing to have the blue slip back to where it was,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told the outlet.
Grassley, who served as the committee’s chairman when the “blue slip” was eliminated, said it was a part of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) plan to confirm as many judges as possible during Donald Trump’s presidency.
“McConnell had a good plan going and the blue slip for the circuit judges was standing in the way and he wanted to get as many circuit judges on as you could get,” Grassley told the outlet. “And that’s part of the reason it was revised and effectively eliminated.”
Under the McConnell-led Senate and Trump White House, a near-record number of federal judges were confirmed during the four-year span.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who serves as vice chairman on the committee, also signaled a hope to “find a way forward to have a little bit of a check and balance on the committee” in remarks to Politico.
Talk of bringing back the “blue slip” came as the committee is pushing forward U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz’s nomination to a circuit judgeship for the 6th Circuit, despite opposition from both Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).