By: Nic Benke

In the ever politically and racially divisive year of 2013, one year after then President Barack “Drone-Strike” Obama’s 2012 reelection, the Senate and House majority Democrats initiated what is termed as a “nuclear option” This “nuclear option” bans the use of filibustering to halt the president’s federal judicial nominations. However, this policy does not affect the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. In the fallout of this nuclear option, Obama certainly was able to pass more nominations for judges, but his successor has benefited even more.

President Donald Trump has already passed more nominations for judges than his predecessor had during his whole eight years in office. With many more than 100 nominations, Trump poses to leave a long lasting conservative legacy through his work in the judicial branch.

While some may brush aside this judicial victory myopically handed to Trump, the importance and impact of appointing judges can not be stressed enough. Even though the most famous of judicial appointments have been and will be those of the Supreme Court, every single judge at each level carries an impact. Judges use their life experience, legal perspective, and personal opinions to make decisions on how to apply the law. Traditionally, judges have been encouraged to not involve politics in the courtroom, but their political ideology still can greatly color their decisions, as shown by the infamous Ninth Circuit.

In an attempt to further add to the president’s power, there are Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who would like to ignore the Senate’s traditional “blue slip” courtesy. While it is up to the Senate Judiciary Committee on how the Senate handles blue slips, whether it is considered as a single-person veto or merely a recommendation, it is traditionally expected that the two senators from the judge’s state must each produce a blue slip. This action shows their general approval of the judge and allows the president’s nomination to heard by the Senate.

“The majority [will treat a blue slip] as simply notification of how you’re going to vote, not as an opportunity to blackball [a nomination],” said McConnell, according to The Hill.

Politico interviewed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley last Fall.

“The Democrats seriously regret that they abolished the filibuster, as I warned them they would,” Grassley said in his floor speech. “But they can’t expect to use the blue slip courtesy in its place. That’s not what the blue slip is meant for,” said Grassley.

Opposition to McConnell’s plan of precedence largely comes from the Democrats in the Senate, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Schumer said , “The Senate has fewer and fewer mechanisms that create bipartisanship and bring people to an agreement. The blue slips are one of them. It’s just a shame that Senator McConnell is willing to abandon it for circuit court judges.”

Trump already faces the largest number of judicial vacancies in recent history, but this precedent even further streamlines the president’s process and allow him to pick candidates without fear of partisan retaliation. The immediate consequences of totally ignoring these blue slips would most likely result in even more conservative appointments, but the long term consequences would undoubtedly give the Democrats an excuse to ignore all Republican blue slips. It is entirely possible that the Republicans could now be falling into a similar partisan-powered trap in which the Democrats of 2013 had snared themselves in only years later, but to a lesser degree. While it will be beneficial for the Trump administration, the current president is unfortunately limited to two terms and the Democrats will now no doubt ignore blue slips if they regain power in Congress. With increasing immigration and possible broad grants of citizenship for millions of illegal aliens, the Republican party may not be in power for much longer unless drastic measures are taken.