Grassley Tells Colleagues He Was ‘Offended’ by Trump’s Callout

Sen. Chuck Grassley said he was “offended” by President Donald Trump’s late-night Truth Social post singling him out and calling on Senate Republicans to fast-track the president’s judicial nominations.

“Last night, I was surprised to see President Trump on Truth Social go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the ‘blue slip,’” Grassley said in a statement to open Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing. “I was offended by what the president said and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insult.”

The so-called blue slip practice dates back to 1917 and effectively gives senators veto power over federal judicial appointments in their state. The Senate Judiciary Committee chair sends the slips to a nominee’s home state senators, and if even one of the slips is not returned the nomination is effectively vetoed.

Most recently, New York Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim withheld their blue slips in order to block the consideration of Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal attorney, who he nominated to serve as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.

In the Tuesday Truth Social post, Trump called on Grassley to have the “courage” to end the blue slip practice “IMMEDIATELY.” He argued that Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer, Tim Kaine, Cory Booker and Adam Schiff, have used blue slips to block “Great Republican candidates” and said the practice is “probably Unconstitutional.”

“To people in the Real America — not here in Washington, D.C., an island surrounded by reality — the people in Real America don’t care about what the ‘blue slip’ is,” Grassley responded Wednesday morning. “But, in fact, it impacts the district judges who serve their communities and the U.S. attorneys who ensure law and order is enforced.”

The White House declined to comment beyond Trump’s Truth Social post.

Members from both sides of the aisle supported Grassley’s remarks on Wednesday.

“It really relates to the relationship between the minority and the majority on this committee and the basic rights that we have given for district court judges to the senators that we serve with,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee’s ranking member, said at the nomination hearing.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters following the hearing that there is little interest in changing the nomination process.

“We’ll see where the conversation goes with our colleagues, but I don’t sense any rush to change it,” Thune said, as reported by Politico. “And I think the key is to make sure that we’re making good headway doing the list of judges that are on the president’s list.”

Senate judicial appointments are currently holding up the Senate’s planned August recess. About 150 nominations have yet to work their way to the Senate floor, though in order for senators to adjourn in time for recess, Democrats would likely have to strike a deal.

Republicans are reportedly discussing several measures that would speed along the process, including block voting and reducing the amount of debate time required for each appointee, but have not yet settled on a solution.

“We are absolutely trying to avoid a nuclear option issue, but at some point you’ve got to have an operational government,” said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told Politico.