Rule Reinstatement Could Stall Judicial Confirmations

Senate Judiciary Commitee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., indicated that he is open to reviving the "blue slip" process on circuit court nominees next year, which would grant more leverage to the minority party to block executive branch nominees, Politico reported.

The "blue slip" prevented circuit court judicial nominees from moving forward unless both senators from the state approved the pick. The process was removed in 2017 when Republicans controlled the Senate and was not revived when Democrats took over in 2021.

Durbin said last week that the change would need to be approved by both parties.

"If there's any members of the committee that want to start an active conversation along those lines, I'd be glad to join it," he said.

"If we are going to do anything on blue slips on circuit court judges, I think there's one premise: We should do it prospectively, not knowing the outcome of an election that may change the presidency or may not. That is a fair way to approach it," Durbin said at a hearing last week.

Republicans on the committee also expressed a willingness to having the discussion. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the top GOP member on the panel, told reporters at the Capitol that he hopes "we can find a way forward to have a little bit of a check and balance on the committee."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., agreed.

"I think it's a good thing to have the blue slip back to where it was," he said.

Grassley noted that the removal of blue slips was a move by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to get through as many judges as possible.

"McConnell had a good plan going, and the blue slip for the circuit judges was standing in the way and he wanted to get as many circuit judges on as you could get," Grassley told Politico. "And that's part of the reason it was revised and effectively eliminated."

A Durbin spokesperson told Politico that any change to the policy would not take effect until the next Congress.

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