Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said Monday he won’t advance two of President Donald Trump’s U.S. attorney picks after they ran into opposition from one of their home-state senators.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this month he would not return his blue slip for Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York or Joseph Nocella Jr.’s in the Eastern District.
The blue slip isn’t a Senate rule but instead a precedent that allows senators to effectively block the approval of nominees to U.S. district courts and U.S. attorney’s offices in their states.
Asked if Schumer’s objections meant that the two nominees won’t advance, Grassley said in a brief interview, “We’re going to honor the blue slip.”
