{
  "id": "R44975",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "R",
  "number": "R44975",
  "active": true,
  "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com",
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      "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R44975",
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      "date": "2023-08-02",
      "typeId": "R",
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      "type": "CRS Report",
      "summary": null,
      "title": "The Blue Slip Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations (1917-Present)",
      "retrieved": "2023-08-21T04:03:04.718411",
      "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov",
      "id": "R44975_6_2023-08-02"
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    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 573644,
      "date": "2017-10-02",
      "retrieved": "2017-10-02T22:04:59.681136",
      "title": "The Blue Slip Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations: Frequently Asked Questions",
      "summary": "The blue slip process used by the Senate Judiciary Committee (the committee) for U.S. circuit and district court nominations has received renewed interest from Senators. The committee\u2019s use of the blue slip has been, since at least 1917, a feature of its consideration of U.S. circuit and district court nominations. After a President selects a nominee for a U.S. circuit or district court judgeship, the chairman sends a blue-colored form to the Senators representing the home state of the nominee. The form seeks the home state Senators\u2019 assessment of the nominee. If a home state Senator has no objection to a nominee, the blue slip is returned to the chairman with a positive response. If, however, a home state Senator objects to a nominee, the blue slip is either withheld or returned with a negative response.\nSince the use of blue slips is not codified or included in the committee\u2019s rules, the chairman of the committee has the discretion to determine the extent to which a home state Senator\u2019s negative, or withheld, blue slip stops a President\u2019s judicial nomination from receiving a committee hearing and a committee vote and, consequently, whether it reaches the Senate floor. Over the century of the use of the blue slip, different chairmen have used the blue slip in different ways. During some years, a chairman has required a nominee to receive two positive blue slips from his or her home state Senators. This particular blue slip policy, for example, was in place during the eight years of the Obama presidency and much of the George W. Bush presidency\u2014during periods of both unified and divided party control.\nDuring other years, a chairman\u2019s blue slip policy has allowed for a nomination to proceed in committee\u2014and, at times, to the Senate floor\u2014even if the nominee did not have the support of one or both home state Senators. Since at least 1956, however, regardless of the particular blue slip policy used by the committee to process judicial nominations, it has been relatively rare for the Senate to confirm a nominee not supported by his or her home state Senators.\nHistorically, a committee\u2019s blue slip policy has applied to both U.S. circuit and district court nominations. Senators, however, have traditionally exerted less influence over the selection of circuit court nominees than over district court nominees. The lesser role for Senators, and the more independent role of the President, in the selection of circuit court nominees is well established by custom. While home state Senators have historically exerted less influence over the selection of circuit court nominees, they have nonetheless often retained certain prerogatives under the committee\u2019s blue slip policy once a circuit court nominee is selected by a President. For example, during the Obama presidency and much of the George W. Bush presidency, a circuit court nomination did not proceed in committee unless it had received two positive blue slips from a nominee\u2019s home state Senators.\nFuture changes to the committee\u2019s blue slip policy, whether during the current presidency or a future one, might have several consequences\u2014some of which might be viewed as adverse, others which might be viewed as beneficial\u2014to the institutional role of the Senate, as well as to the judicial confirmation process itself.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44975",
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      "topics": []
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  "topics": [
    "American Law"
  ]
}