Grassley Slams Leftist Organizations for Undermining the Blue Slip Process

Opening Statement for the Record by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Nominations
Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Today, [we] have two panels.

The first panel features Daniel Traynor, who is nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Our second panel has four district court nominees: Angela Colmenero, for the Southern District of Texas; Michael Martin, for the Eastern District of Michigan; Kasdin Mitchell, for the Northern District of Texas; and Antonio Pozos, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Today, we're considering a pair of district court nominees from Pennsylvania and Michigan - Mr. Pozos and Mr. Martin.

These are the first judicial nominees this Congress who've received blue slips from Democratic senators.

I want to commend President Trump and Senators Fetterman, Peters and Slotkin for their collaboration on these nominees.

The blue slip has been a Senate practice for more than a century. It's in part how the Senate exercises its Advice and Consent role regarding judicial nominations.

The practice has been defended by senators of both parties over the years.

Ranking Member Durbin and myself can both speak firsthand about the political pressure we've received for respecting our colleagues' wishes and retaining this longstanding practice.

Properly understood, blue slips safeguard one of the Senate's distinct constitutional powers.

When approached in good faith, it fosters cooperation with the White House to ensure that district judges are well suited and respected in the states where they serve.

Republicans and Democrats have successfully worked together in this way for decades.

Under the first Trump and the Biden administrations, senators from the opposing party returned more than 180 blue slips for district court nominees.

More than 180!

Those blue slips weren't impediments, but instead useful tools to reach bipartisan agreement.

I know this. Ranking Member Durbin knows this. And all my Senate colleagues know this.

It's why they frequently thank me for respecting their wishes and defending the Senate's century-old practice.

But, in this divisive political climate, shortsighted partisans have sought to undermine the blue slip practice and sew further division in our country.

Take, for example, the progressive dark money group known as Demand Justice.

That group recently announced that it plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in targeted advertising campaigns against Senate Democrats who dared to return blue slips for any of President Trump's nominees.

Demand Justice and others threatened, "Democrats who shrink from this fight will face consequences."

So, let's look at the two nominees who Demand Justice so vehemently opposes today.

Mr. Pozos practiced law for nearly two decades. He served as a federal prosecutor during the Obama Administration. And his time in private practice has been heralded by many, including the Philadelphia Business Journal, which gave Mr. Pozos the Minority Business Leader Award.

Like Mr. Pozos, Mr. Martin is not a political activist. He's a faithful career public servant, who prosecuted serious matters involving espionage, terrorism and export control. In the Eastern District of Michigan, he's served in the U.S. Attorney's Office under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

But Demand Justice is threatening Senate Democrats because of these nominees.

Shame on them and anyone who doesn't oppose their tactics.

Groups like Demand Justice don't care about the people of Pennsylvania or Michigan, or any other state.

Their actions are dangerous and un-American.

They seek partisan advantage at all costs, and they don't care if the casualties are good public servants, or the judiciary as an institution.

So, I want to take a moment to praise Senators Fetterman, Peters and Slotkin.

It took real courage to rise above these despicable pressures, to do what's right for the people of Pennsylvania and Michigan and to reach a bipartisan result that ensures safety, security and freedom in their respective states.

I also want to encourage all my Senate colleagues to follow these Senators' leadership.

The blue slip practice is under assault, and it falls to each and every member to do their part to uphold it.

Senators tell me they want to retain this practice, but very often their conduct is destructive to the very institution they claim to want to protect.

The blue slip for district judges and U.S. Attorneys has survived for a century, but this practice will become more untenable unless Senators recognize and act on the need to work with the White House in good faith.

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