The judicial conference is recommending 3 more district judges in the SDFLA. But there's a real question of whether any judges will be confirmed right now, with the JNC not being supported by Rubio or Scott. Rubio apparently has his own JNC. Scott wants nothing to do with that either. So will any judges get blue slips going forward? There's a real concern with people I'm speaking with that no judges will be confirmed unless President Biden and the Democratic Senate get rid of the blue slip process in Florida. We shall see.
Here's a recent TBT article about the back and forth on the JNC:
Florida’s two Republican senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, are refusing to participate in a longstanding, bipartisan system for nominating federal judges that Florida legal insiders say has produced non-political, competent judicial nominees for decades.
Both Scott and Rubio have said they won’t participate with Florida House Democrats who are setting up Florida’s federal Judicial Nominating Commissions — even though bipartisan cooperation has long been typical.
Scott and Rubio called it an infringement on the Senate’s exclusive right to confirm judges.
Instead, the two senators say they’ll rely on their own sources for recommending judicial nominees, as well as on senators’ traditional prerogative to single-handedly block nominees in their home states.
9 comments:
The republicans didn't honor blue slips during the Trump administration, why should the democrats do so now...
See, e.g., https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/27/dangerous-first-conservative-judge-installed-after-vetting-by-only-two-senators/
This isn't about tit-for-tat. The blue slip should simply be eliminated. It has become (if it wasn't always) a form of soft corruption that doesn't serve the people and only serves senators.
Just give every appointment from the President, good, bad, or ugly, republican or democrat, regardless of who is in the White House, a straight up or down vote. No committees, no cloture, no blue slip - just vote and let the chips fall where they might. That's democracy.
Somebody needs to nominate the shaman with the Viking horns and animal skins who stormed the Capitol. MCFA. (Make court fun again).
Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Chairman has made it clear that if nominees of color are being blocked by Southern senators, he would disregard the blue slip. It is quite reminiscent of racist Southern senators blocking nominees in the 1950s and 1960s.
The solution in Florida is to nominate only people of color.
With Rubio or Scott backing you, that should be the kiss of death!
Thank you thank you for someone posting above that this was not honored by the Trump admin so why should it be honored now? Wasnt a judge confirmed in M/FL who never tried a case in a courtroom as a lawyer before? Are you telling me this judge got the green light from the Senators? Or was she connected to big donors? C'mon now.
Hold on folks. The Blue slip makes sense.
We elect Senators, and they have a network within the state they represent. If a prospective judge is not acceptable to a Senator from that state, he should not be appointed. Neither Scott nor Rubio were good lawyers, but, they have staff who are in contact with folks who are. If there is a defect in a candidate such that the Senator from his state is willing to blackball her, that person should not be a U.S. Judge.
@Kissimmee Kid
A nice fairy tale. And also wildly undemocratic. If a senator, from any state, is aware of a defect in a candidate, s/he should let the rest of the senate know and try to convince the senate to vote down the candidate. One senator (or two) should not have the power to override the president's constitutional power of appointment without a majority of senators joining.
Straight up and down votes on every constitutional appointment regardless of party in power is the way it should be.
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