GOP stands firm in ‘blue slip’ battle with Trump despite prosecutor setbacks

Published December 7, 2025 5:00am ET



The longstanding bipartisan tradition of allowing senators to sink judicial nominees from their home state appears safe for now, despite high-profile setbacks involving President Donald Trump’s hand-picked federal prosecutors.

Key Republicans are resisting Trump’s calls to abolish the Senate’s “blue slip” practice on judicial nominees, even after courts determined Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan were unlawfully installed as interim U.S. attorneys in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, following blockades to their confirmations by home-state Democrats.

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