Donald Trump lashed out at Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley after the “blue slip” custom was used to block his former personal lawyer from becoming the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
In a Sunday post on Truth Social, the president attacked Senate Judiciary Chair Grassley over the decades-old tradition that allows home-state senators to object to federal judicial nominations.
Two New Jersey Democratic Senators–Cory Booker and Andy Kim–used the blue slip custom to prevent a floor vote on Habba’s nomination. On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that Habba has been unlawfully serving as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey after the president’s team attempted a convoluted maneuver to keep her in the role without Senate approval.
“I have a Constitutional Right to appoint Judges and U.S. Attorneys, but that RIGHT has been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator,” Trump wrote. “This is because of an old and outdated ‘custom’ known as a BLUE SLIP, that Senator Chuck Grassley, of the Great State of Iowa, refuses to overturn, even though the Democrats, including Crooked Joe Biden (Twice!), have done so on numerous occasions.
“Therefore, the only candidates that I can get confirmed for these most important positions are, believe it or not, Democrats! Chuck Grassley should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles, and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to HELL!” Trump added.
Habba also attacked Grassley, Booker, and Kim over the blue slip tradition, named because of the literal blue-colored forms sent to senators seeking their approval or disapproval for judicial nominations in their home states.
“This tradition that Senator Grassley is upholding effectively prevents anybody in a blue state from going through to the Senate to then be voted on, Habba told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
“Senator Booker and Senator Kim had absolutely every right to vote no for me for the U.S. attorney position, but I had the right, as the nominee, to get in front of the Senate and to be voted on, to be vetted. I never even got there.”
Grassley is standing firm, saying he will not scrap the long-running blue slip custom despite pressure from Trump to do so.
In posts on X defending himself, Grassley wrote: “A U.S. Atty/district judge nominee without a blue slip does not have the votes to get confirmed on the Senate floor & they don’t have the votes to get out of [committee]. As chairman. I set Pres Trump noms up for SUCCESS NOT FAILURE.”
“Habba was withdrawn as the President’s nominee for New Jersey U.S. Atty on July 24 and the [Senate Judiciary Committee] never received any of the paperwork needed for the Senate to vet her nomination,” Grassley added.
Trump had also urged Grassley to scrap blue slips in another Truth Social rant in July, demanding the 91-year-old senator get rid of it “immediately” and “not let the Democrats laugh at him.”
Grassley lamented Trump’s attacks during a July 30 committee business meeting, saying he was “offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insult.”
A spokesperson for Grassley referred the Daily Beast to his social media posts when reached for comment.
