quote:

Oregon's two Democratic senators are blocking one of President Trump's judicial nominees with claims that a "longstanding" state tradition mandating that nominees be chosen from their "judicial selection committee" was violated, but the tradition they cite has never applied to picks for the U.S. Circuit Court, according to records viewed by the Washington Free Beacon.


Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley alerted the White House that they would be blocking the nomination of Oregon native Ryan Bounds for a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bounds is currently serving as assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

"We cannot return a blue slip on any judicial nominee that has not been approved by our bipartisan judicial selection committee," the senators wrote in a letter to the White House referencing the informal "blue slip" process by which senators are able to block nominations of judges from their home state.

"We have a long history of organizing a committee charged with thoroughly vetting applicants from the Oregon legal community," the senators wrote. "We do not intend to return our blue slips for Ryan Bounds or any other nominee that has not been selected through our judicial selection process."

Though Wyden and Merkley refer to this selection process as a "longstanding" tradition, records show that nominees for the U.S. Circuit Court such as Bounds have never been selected in this fashion.

Bounds is nominated to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Oregon Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who notified former President Obama that he was assuming senior status on the court last September.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
with all the overt DEM obstructionism going on, McConnell should just announce "We see what you are doing, and we are going to stop it"

Make the blue slip a recommendation only. Get moving on these nominations.

quote:

Let's see if McConnell has any spine left.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
with all the overt DEM obstructionism going on, McConnell should just announce "We see what you are doing, and we are going to stop it"

Make the blue slip a recommendation only. Get moving on these nominations.

Franken and Klobuchar are pulling a similar maneuver.

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
Wyden of course lives in NY state for years now. While I've searched for rational answer to the question, many Oregonians still do not understand exactly how his claim to residency stands.

Yes, years ago he did have a small apartment in PDX. It was up for sale about 10 years ago.

Some Oregonians consider Ron Wyden to be an ancillary NY State Senator regardless of his claims.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
http://thehill.com/homenews/se...for-pair-of-nominees

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is moving to nix the blue slip for two of President Trump’s judicial picks, sparking a showdown with Democrats over nominations.

Grassley announced on Thursday that he has scheduled Nov. 29 hearings for David Stras, Trump’s nomination to be an appellate judge on the 8th Circuit, and for Kyle Duncan, nominated to serve the 5th Circuit.

“Today, I’m announcing that the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing for two circuit court nominees, each of whom has one home state senator who has not returned a blue slip containing a positive endorsement,” Grassley said from the Senate floor.

Stras’s nomination has been in limbo since early September when Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said he wouldn’t turn in his blue slip because he has “grown concerned that if confirmed to the federal bench, Justice Stras would be a deeply conservative jurist.”

Grassley noted that GOP Sen. John Kennedy (La.) had not returned a positive blue slip for Duncan, but has said he does not oppose having a hearing.

The “blue-slip” rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — has historically allowed a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return a sheet of paper, known as a blue slip, to the Judiciary Committee.

But how strictly the precedent is upheld is decided by Judiciary Committee chairman and enforcement has fluctuated depending on who controls the panel.