Senate Republicans have done a head-spinning 180 on the value of the “blue slip,” a 100-year-old tool that gives home state senators the ability to sign off on judicial nominees in their states. This practice ensures that the White House consults senators on lifetime appointments and that nominees are mainstream and well-suited to serve in their states. Just three years ago, Sen. Orrin Hatchwrote about the value of the blue slip and his commitment to upholding it during his tenure as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He said that “weakening or eliminating the blue slip process would sweep aside the last remaining check on the president’s judicial appointment power.”

But despite using the blue slip to block 18 of President Obama’s nominees — four circuit court judges in 2016 alone — and delay the confirmation of dozens more, Senate Republicans are now threatening to eliminate the blue slip to jam Donald Trump’s right-wing judges through the process. This move would give President Trump free rein to pick whomever he wants and stack our federal courts with young, ideological judges preferred by Washington-based right-wing groups like the Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network.

To justify this about-face, Senate Republicans are attempting to rewrite history with a number of false and hypocritical claims. Let’s debunk them one by one...

https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/blue-slips-judicial-nominees-feinstein