President Trump has had enough of the Senate’s “blue slip” tradition that allows senators to put the kibosh on certain presidential nominees for positions in their home states, and he’s demanding Senate Republicans to due away with the “scam.”
In a Truth Social message posted Thursday morning, the president called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to terminate blue slips so that several of the White House’s picks for U.S. Attorney vacancies can make their way through the confirmation process. Trump also had pointed words for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying it’s “shocking” Grassley allows the tradition to continue.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 11, 2025
The blue slip process begins in the Senate Judiciary Committee after the sitting president selects a nominee for a U.S. circuit or district court judgeship. The committee chairman sends blue-colored slips of paper to the two senators representing the state in which the role is to be filled seeking the senators’ assessment of that nominee. If the senators approve, they return the blue slip to the chairman and the nominee is given the green light. If the senators object to the nominee, they either return the blue slip nixing the nominee or don’t return the slip at all.
It’s a Senate tradition and is not codified in the Judiciary Committee’s rules, meaning the chairman is under no obligation to stall or kill a nomination. Thus far, Grassley has kept the tradition alive and well, although one of his predecessors, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), modified the approach when he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first administration. Under Graham, a nominee no longer needed approval from both home state senators to have their nomination advance.
DEEP DIVE: We Need to Talk About the Senate’s ‘Blue Slip’ Tradition and How It’s Derailing Trump’s Agenda (VIP)
Trump Goes Scorched Earth Over Dems Blue-Slip Block of Habba, Other U.S. Attorney Picks
The blue slip privilege is why Alina Habba, President Trump’s former personal attorney and his pick to be U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, recently stepped away from the role after months of the administration having to fight it out in the courts because her nomination was nixed by New Jersey’s two Democrat senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim.
“The president has a right to not go along with what the judges want,” Grassley said a few months back. “It’s going around the fact that all U.S. attorneys are being held up here. You’re talking about a universal problem that we have in all 93 districts, not just in New York and New Jersey.”
The president’s latest plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears, with Thune saying in a Thursday appearance on Fox News that he doesn’t see things changing and remarking that there are Republicans on and off the Judiciary Committee who support the blue slip privilege “and support it strongly.”
Sen John Thune to Trump: NO I’m Not Terminating The Blue Slip Tradition
“I don’t think it’s going to change. It’s been in place for a long time. And like I said, there are Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and off the Judiciary Committee, for that matter, who support this… https://t.co/lnHtpdQiPl pic.twitter.com/ehPGOi6xIk
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) December 11, 2025
Despite the blowback from his fellow Republicans, President Trump isn’t likely to drop the matter. He previously told reporters, “This is based on an old custom. It’s not based on a law. And I think it’s unconstitutional. And I’ll probably be filing a suit on that pretty soon.”
Watch this space.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is leading America into the “Golden Age” as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
Help us continue to report on President Trump’s successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
