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Can Republicans end this Senate loophole blocking Trump’s court nominees?

Can Republicans end this Senate loophole blocking Trump’s court nominees?

Did you know a Senate tradition allows lawmakers to stop lower-court judicial nominees with something called a “blue slip”? Mark Lucas of Concerned Veterans for America joined Thursday’s “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson” to explain why this odd rule is stopping some of the Trump administration’s lower-court nominees.

What is it?

The “blue slip rule” lets individual senators block nominees for lower federal courts in their home states by refusing to sign and return a certain form. That form is blue, inspiring the name.

Why is it a problem now?

The practice of using blue slips gives Democrat lawmakers the chance to block lower-court nominees, and Republicans are saying that the tradition is an obstruction to filling court vacancies.

Can Republicans end the tradition of “blue slips”?

Possibly. The push to stop the “blue slip rule” got a high-level advocate in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who recently told the New York Times, “My personal view is that the blue slip, with regard to circuit court appointments, ought to simply be a notification of how you’re going to vote, not the opportunity to blackball.”

To see more from Doc, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson” weekdays 6–9 a.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.

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