WASHINGTON — July 30, 2025
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) pushed back sharply against former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after Trump publicly criticized Grassley and Senate Republicans for refusing to scrap a long-standing Senate tradition known as the “blue slip,” which Democrats have used to stall some of Trump’s judicial nominees.
Speaking during a committee hearing, the 91-year-old senator expressed dismay over Trump’s comments.
“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. “I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.”
The “blue slip” tradition, in place for more than a century, gives home-state senators the ability to approve or block judicial nominees and U.S. attorneys for their states by withholding a so-called blue slip—a practice critics say gives too much power to individual senators.
Recently, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey used the blue-slip rule to block Trump’s nominee Alina Habba from becoming the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. In response, Trump withdrew Habba’s nomination and signaled she could still serve in an acting role.
Taking to Truth Social on Tuesday night, Trump lashed out: “Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the US 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. Put simply, the President of the United States will never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice because of an ancient, and probably Unconstitutional, ‘CUSTOM.’”
So far during Trump’s second term, Republicans have confirmed only five judicial nominees, trailing behind President Biden’s pace at the same point in 2021, when eight judges had been confirmed. According to a Washington Post tracker, approximately 250 nominations, including 10 judicial picks, are still pending.
With the Senate preparing for its August recess, Trump has urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to cancel the break and push through the backlog. However, GOP lawmakers remain hesitant to abolish the blue-slip rule entirely, fearing Democrats could abuse the lack of procedural safeguards if they regain Senate control.
“People in the Real America — not here in Washington, D.C., an island surrounded by reality — don’t care about what the ‘blue slip’ is,” Grassley said. “But it directly affects the judges and U.S. attorneys who serve their communities and enforce the law.”
The controversy highlights broader Republican frustrations with the Senate’s procedural rules, which Democrats have also used to delay votes on many of Trump’s nominations. Some Republicans have floated the possibility of using recess appointments to bypass Senate gridlock, a move that would allow Trump to install nominees while the chamber is not in session.
For now, the clash between Grassley and Trump underscores ongoing tensions within the Republican Party as it grapples with how aggressively to reshape the federal judiciary during Trump’s second term.
