Hi,

The U.S. Senate is continuing to follow an outdated custom that was
weaponized by segregationist politicians opposed to the Supreme Court’s
Brown v. Board of Education ruling: blue slips.^1

The filibuster is one way Republicans can block progress, blue slips are
another. Under this blue slip practice, both of the U.S. senators in a
state with a judicial vacancy must return a piece of paper (a literal blue
slip) giving their approval of a nominee before the nomination can move
forward.

The practice is now being weaponized by Republicans to try to hold up some
of the judges President Biden has nominated.^2 Some Senate Democrats have
shown a willingness to get rid of blue slips and get President Biden’s
judicial nominees moving forward, but we have to join together and get all
Senate Democrats on board.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition to Senate Democrats: Don’t allow the Senate GOP to
obstruct the appointment of President Biden’s judges!

ADD YOUR NAME

President Biden and the Senate have confirmed federal judges at a historic
rate — but if we want to take the courts back after Trump’s extremist
overhaul of the bench, senators should process these nominees without
delay.

There are a slew of President Biden’s judicial nominees stuck in a backlog
in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Over decades, Republicans have focused
on overhauling America’s courts to make them more conservative. In many
ways, they’ve succeeded, especially when it comes to the Supreme Court,
which has been pumping out right-wing decisions.

President Biden has been able to put a dent in the conservative project by
securing the nomination of more than 80 judges.^3

But we can’t allow Republicans to block the appointment of Democratic
judges. Mitch McConnell will do everything he can to stall judicial
confirmations, even while in the minority in the Senate. We need a
Democratic coalition focused on nominating and confirming Biden’s federal
judges as quickly as possible. If Senate Democrats don’t act swiftly,
Biden’s judicial nominees may never get confirmed.

The filibuster is bad enough — we can’t allow blue slips to halt progress,
too.

[ [link removed] ]Take action: Urge Senate Democrats to get rid of blue slips and confirm
President Biden’s judicial nominees!

Thanks for taking action,

Tihi and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources: 

 1. People for the American Way, “One Nation, Two Systems of Justice: Why
It’s Time to Reform the Blue Slip Practice,” [ [link removed] ]March 2, 2023.
 2. New Republic, “The Blue Slip is the Hot New Senate Tradition that
Democrats Should Abolish,” [ [link removed] ]January 31, 2023.
 3. Bloomberg Law, “Democrats Urged to 'Redouble' Court Confirmations
Until 2023,” [ [link removed] ]November 7, 2022.
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