Trump nominees squeezed between 'blue slips' and blue obstruction
FOX NewsSEP 1
Panel Rules Alina Habba's Appointment as New Jersey U.S. Attorney Unlawful
Are Democrats blocking qualified prosecutors with Senate tradition, or is Trump circumventing constitutional appointment processes?
Above: White House Presidential Counselor Alina Habba at her swearing in as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey in the White House on March 28, 2025. Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Trump's New Jersey gambit shows an administration openly defying constitutional limits on appointments. By reinstalling the unqualified Habba after her term lapsed and attacking judges who exercised their statutory authority to name a replacement, Trump also sought to bypass the Senate's blue-slip tradition, which safeguards advice and consent by giving home-state senators a check on partisan picks. Undermining these checks fits his broader push to erode oversight and weaponize federal power.
Pro-Trump narrative
Democrats are weaponizing the outdated blue-slip tradition to block Trump’s top U.S. attorney picks, like Habba, from Senate confirmation. In blue states, this makes it nearly impossible for true conservative Republicans to serve, ignoring the will of the Americans who elected President Trump. They are forcing talented prosecutors into temporary roles and letting partisan judges overturn appointments, obstructing his law-and-order agenda nationwide. Grassley should ignore this obsolete custom, as Democrats do, and confirm these qualified nominees.