Blue slip (U.S. Senate)

Stras's hearing was held up by Senator Al Franken's refusal to return his blue slip, while Duncan's hearing was held up by Senator John Neely Kennedy's indecision on his blue slip.

[8][9] In February 2019, attorney Eric Miller was confirmed to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, despite the fact that neither of his two home-state senators (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both of Washington) had returned blue slips for him.

[10] He was the first federal judicial nominee to be confirmed without support from either of his home-state senators, although other nominees were similarly confirmed to the Courts of Appeals without blue slips later in 2019, including Paul Matey (Third Circuit, New Jersey), Joseph F. Bianco and Michael H. Park (both Second Circuit, New York), and Kenneth K. Lee, Daniel P. Collins, and Daniel Bress (all Ninth Circuit, California).

By the end of Trump's tenure, 17 judges were appointed despite resistance from at least one senator of that state.

In the Biden presidency, the Democrat-led Senate did not return to the blue slip, but only six appellate judges were confirmed with opposition.

A Senate blue slip from 1917 for U.V. Whipple, a candidate for district judge for the southern district of Georgia, signed by Georgia Senator Thomas Hardwick , who wrote that "I object to this appointment—[Whipple] is personally offensive and objectionable to me, and I can not consent to the confirmation of the nominee." [ 1 ]
Great Seal of the United States Senate
Great Seal of the United States Senate