Trump nominees squeezed between 'blue slips' and blue obstruction

Trump attributes confirmation struggle to blue slip process as Democrats withhold approval and Republicans refuse to eliminate the tradition.

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

He said blue state senators will only greenlight "Democrats or maybe weak Republicans." The president called on Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to abolish the practice, and he threatened to sue over it.

But Grassley and other Republicans are unbudging in their position that blue slips are an indispensable part of the confirmation process. Blue slips have been used for more than a century. Past presidents have gotten many nominees confirmed under the system, suggesting other factors are contributing to Trump’s struggle to secure blue slips from Democrats.