Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday scheduled hearings for two of President Trump’s federal appeals court picks whose nominations have been slowed by the “blue slip” tradition.
Grassley, R-Iowa, scheduled hearings on 8th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee David Stras and 5th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Kyle Duncan, despite the lack of senators returning positive blue slips on their nominations.
The Judiciary Committee’s blue slip tradition provides a state’s senators with the assurance that the governing administration consults the senators before a president nominates a judge from the state, regardless of partisan affiliation. The state’s senators historically have then had an opportunity to request a block of the judicial nominee from receiving a committee hearing and vote.
Democratic Minnesota Sen. Al Franken sought to blockade Stras’ nomination because of Franken’s concern that the Minnesota Supreme Court justice would move the Midwestern federal appeals court farther to the ideological right.
Grassley spoke in support of Stras’ nomination on the Senate floor Thursday, while Stras moderated a Federalist Society panel event on criminal law across town in Washington at the Mayflower Hotel. The Federalist Society is a right-leaning legal group that holding its annual lawyers convention in Washington this week.
“The White House reached out to my colleague from Minnesota several times between January and May of this year to discuss the 8th Circuit vacancy,” Grassley said on Thursday. “It wasn’t until May 2, that my colleague suggested alternatives to Justice Stras. That was more than three months after initial contact. Nevertheless, the White House considered my colleague’s two suggested nominees. I am satisfied that the White House adequately tried to consult with both home-state senators. Therefore, I will not deny Justice Stras a hearing.”
GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has decided to withhold his blue slip on Duncan’s nomination while remaining neutral on whether to support him, according to Grassley.
“Senator Kennedy expressed that, while he is undecided on Mr. Duncan’s nomination, he does not oppose a hearing for Mr. Duncan,” Grassley said Thursday. “This is the correct distinction a senator should make when deciding whether to return a blue slip. The blue slip is not meant to signify the senator’s ultimate support or opposition to the nominee. It only expresses the senator’s view about whether the nominee should get a hearing.”
Grassley scheduled Stras and Duncan’s Judiciary Committee hearings for Nov. 29, the Wednesday after the Thanksgiving holiday.
