Congressman Steven Horsford, D-Nev., waits for the start of an event with President Joe Biden sat UNLV Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
Friday, July 14, 2023 | 5:04 p.m.
Nevada U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford is pressing Senate Democrats to block the nomination of two Louisiana federal judges over a procedural tool being used to stifle President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations, citing concerns that a select few lawmakers are obstructing racially diverse appointees.
Horsford, a Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, sent a letter Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus demanding reforms to the so-called blue slip system.
A blue slip can be used by senators to endorse or oppose judicial nominees from their home state that is then factored by the Judiciary Committee when considering sending a nomination to the Senate floor for a general vote.
“Not only is the Blue Slip a fundamentally undemocratic vestige of Jim Crow, its use has a substantial effect on the Black community as decisions made by federal judges play a critical role in determining the scope of individual civil rights and liberties,” Horsford wrote to Durbin. “Judges matter, and the opinion of a few can impact the lives of many.”
Among demands Horsford made include waiving the blue slip requirement for U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal nominations; require that only one blue slip be returned from a home-state senator for other nominees; require senators to list a reason for a nominee’s objection; and to set in stone a process to engage Black Caucus members with a “jurisdictionally vested interest” in a nomination, according to the letter.
In 2017, then-Judiciary chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, did away with blue slips for circuit court nominees after Democrats vowed to use their blue slips to stall nominations by then-President Donald Trump. Horsford in his letter called the blue slips “arcane,” and many Democratic officials have wished publicly to do away with the system altogether.
Republicans during Trump’s presidency moved forward with appellate court nominees on 17 occasions, despite the lack of a positive blue slip being returned, according to an Associated Press report from February. Democrats in favor of ditching the blue slips say the move is needed if they want to see the same success Trump had with judicial nominations during his presidency, securing more than 100 confirmations out of 231 nominations.
“The continued misuse of the arcane Blue Slip as a tool for procedural obstruction and the failure to meaningfully engage CBC Members who have a jurisdictionally vested interest in nominations will undermine our joint endeavor to make a dramatic mark on the judiciary,” Horsford wrote.
Members of the Black Caucus have met with Durbin, D-Ill., earlier this year over the proposed blue slip changes, and the letter to Durbin came after a Black Caucus meeting Monday with civil rights groups, Politico reported Thursday.
Durbin addressed the letter at the start of the Judiciary Committee’s hearing Tuesday.
“I understand the Congressional Black Caucus has raised concerns about White House consultations with Congressman Troy Carter regarding the two Louisiana nominees on today’s panel,” Durbin said. “I do not know the details of these consultations, but I hope any concerns can be resolved as we move forward.”
Read Horsford's letter here.
