President Donald Trump called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to take action to terminate the "scam" of judicial "blue slips."
In a Truth Social post Thursday morning, Trump warned that the Senate's informal blue-slip custom is letting Democrat senators quietly veto his nominees for federal judgeships and U.S. attorney posts, even in red-leaning states.
"'Blue Slips' are making it impossible to get great Republican Judges and U.S. Attorneys approved to serve in any state where there is even a single Democrat Senator," Trump wrote, saying one Democrat's objection means "it is OVER for that very well qualified Republican candidate."
Trump blasted the practice as "so unfair to Republicans, and not Constitutional," and appealed directly to Thune, whom he called "a fantastic guy," to push for "the termination of Blue Slips."
The blue-slip tradition is not a formal Senate rule but a courtesy that allows home-state senators to block nominees simply by refusing to return a slip of paper approving the pick.
Trump argued that Democrats exploit the custom to demand partisan prosecutors and judges, while Republicans have been too deferential.
"Only a really far left Democrat can be approved," said Trump, adding that "too many GREAT REPUBLICANS are being, SENT PACKIN'. None are getting approved!!!"
Trump has been raising the alarm about blue slips for months.
At an October GOP Senate luncheon in the newly remodeled Rose Garden, Trump told Republican senators the practice is "unfair to the public" and effectively hands appointment power to "obstructionists" in the minority.
With just one Democrat senator, he said, "they'll say, 'We're not approving that person.' Because of blue slip, I have to tell the person after three months, 'I'm sorry, you'll have to leave.'"
About 10 of his "phenomenal" U.S. attorney picks from top law schools are facing that fate, Trump said, because Democrats simply refuse to sign off.
Some Democrat senators have openly told him they will only approve Democrat nominees, he added, underscoring his charge that the system is being weaponized against conservative candidates.
One flash point is New Jersey, where Trump's choice for U.S. attorney, Alina Habba, was blocked by the state's two Democrat senators.
Habba's 120-day acting term was effectively voided by a 3rd Circuit ruling, and a lower-ranking prosecutor was briefly installed before being removed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump cited her case as proof that qualified Republicans are being driven out of office by partisan games.
In his Rose Garden remarks, Trump praised Thune and GOP leaders for earlier rule changes that sped more than 175 confirmations through the Senate and urged them to show the same backbone on U.S. attorney and judicial appointments.
Ending blue slips, he argued, would restore the Constitution's vision: A president empowered to pick judges and prosecutors, subject to a straightforward up-or-down vote, not quiet vetoes from the left.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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