In the Senate, a blue slip is a slip on which the senators from the state of residence of a federal judicial nominee give an opinion on the nominee.
In the Senate, a blue slip is an opinion written by a senator from the state where a federal judicial nominee resides. Both senators from a nominee's state are sent a blue slip in which they may submit a favorable or unfavorable opinion of a nominee. They may also choose not to return a blue slip. The Senate Judiciary Committee takes blue slips into consideration when deciding whether or not to recommend that the Senate confirm a nominee.
A report issued by the Congressional Research Service in 2003 defines six periods in the use of the blue slip by the Senate: [2]
Since 2003, blue slip policy has changed several more times, as follows:
In October 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he believed blue slips should not prevent committee action on a nominee. [7] In November 2017, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, announced that the committee would hold hearings for David Stras and Kyle Duncan. Stras's hearing was held up by Senator Al Franken's refusal to return his blue slip, while Duncan's hearing was held up by Senator John Neely Kennedy's indecision on his blue slip. Kennedy, however, consented to Duncan receiving a hearing. [8] [9]
In February 2019, attorney Eric Miller was confirmed to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, despite the fact that neither of his two home-state senators (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both of Washington) had returned blue slips for him. [10] He was the first federal judicial nominee to be confirmed without support from either of his home-state senators, although other nominees were similarly confirmed to the Courts of Appeals without blue slips later in 2019, including Paul Matey (Third Circuit, New Jersey), Joseph F. Bianco and Michael H. Park (both Second Circuit, New York), and Kenneth K. Lee, Daniel P. Collins, and Daniel Bress (all Ninth Circuit, California).
The Gang of 14 was a bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully, at the time, negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called "nuclear option" by Senate Republican Majority over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats.
Richard Allen Griffin is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, he was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
David William McKeague is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
David Ryan Stras is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is a former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Helene N. White is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, she was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations, Congress confirmed 329 judgeships, 173 during the 111th & 112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congresses.
Patty Shwartz is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Brian Jordan Davis is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Leonard Terry Strand is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa and a former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Joan Louise Larsen is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 2015 to 2017.
Michael Brian Brennan is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was first nominated on August 3, 2017, by President Donald Trump, and was re-nominated in 2018. He was confirmed May 10, 2018. He was previously a partner in the Milwaukee law firm Gass Weber Mullins LLC, and served 8 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge.
Leonard Steven Grasz is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Ryan Wesley Bounds is an American attorney serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. Bounds had been a nominee for a position as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Brett Joseph Talley is an American lawyer and author who served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice. In September 2017, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. His nomination drew controversy due to his lack of judicial experience, partisan personal blogging, and failure to disclose that he was married to Ann Donaldson, the chief of staff to White House counsel Don McGahn. He became the third judicial nominee since 1989 to receive a unanimous rating of "not qualified" from the American Bar Association. On December 13, 2017, Talley withdrew his name from consideration for the appointment.
Donald Trump, President of the United States from 2017 to 2021, entered office with a significant number of judicial vacancies, including a Supreme Court vacancy due to the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. During the first eight months of his presidency, he nominated approximately 50 judges, a significantly higher number than any other recent president had made by that point in his presidency. By June 24, 2020, 200 of his Article III nominees had been confirmed by the United States Senate. According to multiple media outlets, Trump significantly impacted the composition of the Supreme Court and lower courts during his tenure.
Eric David Miller is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Andre Bernard Mathis is an American lawyer who is serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Arianna Julia Freeman is an American lawyer from Pennsylvania who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
President Joe Biden began his presidency with fewer vacancies to fill than his predecessor. He pledged to nominate people with diverse backgrounds and professional experience; further he pledged to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Doris Lenea Pryor is an American lawyer who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 2022. She served as a United States magistrate judge for the Southern District of Indiana from 2018 to 2022.