Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he still hopes Republicans can find “common ground” to advance President Joe Biden’s judicial nominee — without overruling the so-called blue-collar committee. the slip rule, which allows one senator to sink a judicial nomination from his home state.
It is not an official rule of the Senate. It’s a committee tradition, senatorial etiquette. Durbin can take it off today if he wants to. How does it work? Senators literally gave a blue paper to the committee to signal their support for the advancement of a candidate from their state. If two nominated senators turn in a blue slip, the candidate will be heard. If only one is a blue slip, or not, the nominee will not be heard.
Durbin certainly has a good reason for ending this tradition. Republicans were overlooked for appeals court nominations in 2017 when the majority, and Donald Trump chose the judge. Now, Republicans routinely block Biden’s district court picks by not giving the committee a blue slip.
Democrats produced more than 130 blue slips during the Trump administration, confirming 84 district judges in states with at least one or two Democratic senators. More than two years into the Biden administration, Republicans have returned only 13 blue slips. That was last month.
“Well, it’s still up in the air,” Durbin told HuffPost on Tuesday when asked how he felt about continuing to honor the committee’s blue slip rule.
Asked if he was frustrated with Republicans not turning blue and denying Democrats could move Biden’s judicial nomination, Durbin said angrily, “Of course I’m frustrated!”
But frustrated enough to seriously consider breaking the blue slip rule?
“We’re not there yet,” Durbin said, disappearing into the Senate elevator.
The Illinois Democrat had just chaired a Judiciary Committee hearing a few hours earlier, when the panel heard from Biden’s three judicial nominees. All have received blue slips from their home state senators, including one Louisiana nominee, represented by Republican Senators John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy.
Durbin took a moment to highlight this detail.
“The blue slip process has a long history, but there have been successes and failures in the process,” he said at the start of the hearing. “We have an illustration of success today.”
He added that he hopes his colleagues can “try to find common ground.”
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee sometimes get weird and uncomfortable when asked what they think about eliminating blue slips.
“This is in the hands of Chairman Durbin,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.) recently told HuffPost before running fast. “I’ll leave it there.”
“When it got to the point that the Republicans just kept going all up in the district court nomination,” Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said her breaking point in axing tradition. “I didn’t think we were there. For the moment, we are fine.
Louisiana’s nominee at Tuesday’s hearing on the blue slip presented by two GOP senators, district court nominee Darrel James Papillion, was a bit more ambiguous. Don’t forget that Republicans don’t produce many blue slips – it’s unclear how many judicial seats are currently blocked, as senators can threaten not to produce blue slips. previous The White House has publicly announced any nominees — but it may be more motivated not to give up.
Democrats have spent the past two years trying to confirm Biden’s judicial picks from states led by at least one Democratic senator if not two. The blue slip is not a big deal. Currently, most of the seats to be filled are in states led by one or two Republican senators. This is a different and more challenging path for the Biden White House, and Republicans know it.
Currently, there are about 100 judicial vacancies and only 38 nominees have been announced by the White House. This has led to much speculation as to why no nominees have been announced in the line-up.
And with Durbin still honoring the blue slip rule for district court nominations, that gives Republicans plenty of opportunities to deny Biden a chance to fill his state’s seat.
“We’re not at that point yet.”
– Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on the idea of nixing the blue slip.
Just this month, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced that she will not give a blue slip to Scott Colom, Biden’s candidate for a Mississippi district court seat. The state’s other Republican senator, Roger Wicker, turned in a blue slip. But without Hyde-Smith turned on, Colom’s nomination is toast.
Unless, of course, Durbin threw out the blue slip rule.
The only reaction to Hyde-Smith so far has been his “Very disappointed.”
Progressive judicial advocacy groups are practically shouting at Durbin from the mountaintops to get rid of the blue slip. Republicans have no problem ignoring the rules for Trump’s court picks. For years, Democrats have not worried that GOP senators have ignored opposition to nominees they received from their home states and confirmed against their will.
Is the result of ignoring the blue slip anymore? Trump has confirmed dozens of federal judges for life, most of whom are white, male, right-wing ideologues who oppose abortion rights, LGBTQ rights and voting rights.
“If we are really going to protect our courts, it’s time to stop the blue slip and make sure that all qualified nominees receive a quick hearing and confirmation,” said Kimberly Humphrey, legal director for Federal courts in the Alliance for Justice. “There is still too much progress to be made to allow the misuse of the blue slip tradition, which primarily serves the purpose of Senate Republicans to block nominees who are committed to equal justice for all.”
“It’s time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to put its foot down,” said Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way. “We urge the Committee to schedule a hearing for Scott Colom, who has received the blue slip from the senior senator of Mississippi, Senator Wicker, and make it clear that from now on, the threat to retain the blue slip after efforts to work with the front. The state senator will not interfere with the whole process judicial nominee.
Chris Kang of Demand Justice said it was laughable to honor the blue slip rule for Hyde-Smith, as he would not certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“At this point, Chairman Durbin has a choice,” Kang said. “Reform the antiquated blue slip tradition and give Scott Colom a hearing and fair vote, or accept Republican obstructionism at its worst.”
Tom Williams via Getty Images
Biden already in tears with the judge confirming until this year, surpassing his predecessors with confirmation and bringing badly needed diversity to the federal bench. And after Senate Democrats picked up an extra seat in the November election, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) is hungry to push for more judges.
But the past few weeks have been gloomy for court confirmation. Beyond the blue slip fight, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has been out since early March with health issues. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has also been out with health issues. With a slim 51-49 majority reduced, Democrats’ focus on processing judicial confirmations stalled.
Worse, Feinstein is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and her absence prevents her candidates from advancing. It is unclear when or if the ailing 89-year-old senator will return, and Republicans indicated this week that they would not support Democratic efforts to replace him on the committee. That leaves the committee’s partisan breakdown 10-10, meaning Republicans can effectively block every nominee if they want to.
For now, Durbin’s plan appears to be to continue to seek bipartisanship in judicial nominations, keep the blue slip and hope that Feinstein returns. Not for long.
“We have some pending issues in committee that I’m not going to get into right now,” he said at Tuesday’s hearing, “but I hope to encourage my friends on both sides of the aisle to try to find common ground.”