Hunter
08/25/25
President Donald Trump lashed out at Iowa senator Chuck Grassley and North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis for defending the “Blue Slip rule” preventing his former personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as New Jersey State Prosecutor.
Mediaite reports Habba has been serving as the acting U.S. attorney for NJ since she was appointed in March. A judge ruled Thursday that Habba was “unlawfully” serving as the state’s prosecutor because she is only in an acting capacity. Democrats Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Andy Kim are blocking her appointment under the tradition of the “Blue Slip.”
The “blue slip” is a Senate Judiciary Committee practice where home-state senators indicate their support or objection to a judicial nominee on a blue-colored form. A positive response signals support, while a negative or unreturned slip typically blocks the nomination. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim used blue slips to keep her from advancing.
Trump took to Truth Social Sunday night to express his anger at Grassley. He said, “I have a Constitutional Right to appoint Judges and U.S. Attorneys, but that RIGHT has been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator,” Trump wrote. “This is because of an old and outdated ‘custom’ known as a BLUE SLIP, that Senator Chuck Grassley, of the Great State of Iowa, refuses to overturn, even though the Democrats, including Crooked Joe Biden (Twice!), have done so on numerous occasions. Chuck Grassley should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles, and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to HELL!”.
Senator Tillis said even if Grassley did bypass the blue slip process, he would still block Habba’s nomination.