Grassley Responds to Trump Call to Stop Senator From Vetoing Nominations

‘I was offended by what the president said,’ the Senate Judiciary chairman said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in this undated file photograph. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said on July 30 that he was offended and disappointed after President Donald Trump called on him to eliminate the practice of giving senators in a nominee’s home state the ability to veto nominations.

“I was surprised to see President Trump on Truth Social go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the blue slip,” Grassley said at the start of a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs.

“I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed in that it would result in personal insults. Now we’re here to do business, that’s a very important part of this committee’s work, to do our constitutional duties of reviewing people that require Senate confirmation.”

The so-called blue slip process, in place since the early 1900s, involves the two senators representing the home state of a presidential judicial or U.S. attorney nominee assessing each nominee. If one or both of the senators return a blue-colored form with a negative response or do not return the form, the nomination typically does not move forward.

The process was narrowed by Grassley in 2017 to exclude nominees to U.S. appeals courts, but it is still in place for district court nominees.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on the night of July 29 that Democrats are blocking qualified nominees by using the process.

“[Grassley] 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,” he wrote. “Put simply, the President of the United States will never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice because of an ancient, and probably Unconstitutional, ‘CUSTOM.’”

Only nominees who are Democrats or weak Republicans can make it through the process for certain states represented by senators from the Democratic Party, such as California and New York, according to Trump.

Historically, a small number of nominees who had split or no support from home-state senators have still been confirmed, including several during Joe Biden’s presidency and multiple during Trump’s first term.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on July 30 that he appreciated Grassley’s comments.

“You have stated publicly that you support the blue slip ... and I followed that standard as well in the four years that I chaired this committee,” Durbin said.

“Maybe it’s inside baseball and too much minutiae, but it really relates to the relationship between the majority and the minority on this committee, and the basic rights that we have given for district court judges to the senators that we serve with.”