“Yesterday, Senator Grassley decided to disregard a practice he has insisted upon for years: the blue slip. For 100 years, the Senate has relied on home state senators to return “blue slips” that state if a nominee for the federal bench is “favorable” or “unfavorable.” Senator Grassley himself has insisted on using them—most recently to block 18 viable Obama nominees, including six to the circuit courts.

“By moving forward on two circuit court nominees who have not received two favorable blue slips, Kyle Duncan of Louisiana and David Stras of Minnesota, Grassley not only reversed tradition of the Senate and his own long-standing insistence that the Senate demand them, but specifically reneged on a promise made to his immediate predecessor of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt).

“This action is only the latest in the GOP’s attempt to rush Trump nominees onto the federal bench. The sped up process, with its utter disregard for the purposeful vetting and careful selection of judges who will hold lifetime appointments, is an atrocity, and one that will keep its hold on the American people for at least a generation to come.”