Photo: Alamy
Senate Republicans are considering rule changes this week to speed up confirmations of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, as the chamber grapples with a growing backlog.
The debate centers on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s long-standing “blue slip” tradition, which allows home-state senators to approve or block judicial nominees by returning or withholding a blue slip of paper. Trump has criticized Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley for not scrapping the practice, saying it has slowed down his appointments.
Republicans are expected to discuss potential reforms during a Wednesday meeting. According to lawmakers, several proposals are under review, with the leading option modeled on a Democratic plan from two years ago that would permit a single vote on as many as 10 nominees at once.
Other ideas include cutting debate time for each nomination from two hours to just minutes, designating some nominations as nondebatable, and reducing the number of procedural votes required before final approval.
Because Senate rules can be changed with a simple majority, Republicans could act unilaterally, though such a move would be considered a “nuclear option.” A GOP working group has been meeting to identify a consensus approach.
“Everybody has been talking through various options,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who is leading the group. “One of the things that that process does is empower the committee process.”
Britt said she is in talks with Democrats to see if a bipartisan compromise can be reached. She added that the group has been working through portions of the August recess to develop a plan for moving forward with the remaining nominations.
If Republicans proceed, the changes could clear the way for dozens of Trump’s nominees to advance quickly through the Senate in the coming months.
The president previously attacked Grassley in a Truth Social post on the issue.
“Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,” Trump wrote. “Democrats like [Chuck] Schumer, [Mark] Warner, [Tim] Kaine, [Cory] Booker, [Adam] Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates,” he wrote.