Grassley, who is the ultimate decision maker here as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has elected to ignore the blue slip rule for two appeals court nominees.:
- David Stras, a nominee to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. While Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) supports the nominee, Sen. Al Franken (D) opposes the nominee and has been blocking him for months. This has been one of the most high-profile cases of nominees blocked by blue slips, and it's no surprise that Grassley is starting here.
- Kyle Duncan, a nominee to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is a surprise choice because this nominee is actually being held up by Republican Sen. John Neely Kennedy. Just as in Minnesota, the other senator - Bill Cassidy (R) - supports the nominee. It's important to note that the nominee would still be likely to pass on the Senate Floor even if Kennedy's vote is ungettable, as moderate R's have largely held the line on the President's nominees, and (nearly) every Trump court nominee that has passed the Senate so far has received at least a couple of votes from Democratic Senators.
A joint hearing for the nominations will be held on Nov. 29. Both Senator Franken and Senator Kennedy are on the judiciary committee, and it will be interesting to see them question the nominees.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/chuck-grassley-trump-court-picks-245367
