多数党领袖查克·舒默周三宣布，他将使用参议院程序，允许家乡州参议员反对司法提名人试图阻止总统唐纳德·特朗普美国挑选了两个关键的检察官职位:美国南部和东部地区的检察官纽约.
参议院司法委员会(Senate Judiciary Committee)长期以来一直遵循的蓝纸条程序(blue slip process)要求母国参议员在继续提名美国检察官职位之前签署同意。
纽约民主党人舒默拒绝归还他对杰伊·克莱顿(Jay Clayton)担任纽约南区联邦检察官和小约瑟夫·诺塞拉(Joseph Nocella Jr .)担任纽约东区首席检察官的提名。
舒默在一份声明中说:“唐纳德·特朗普已经明确表示，他不忠于法律，并打算利用司法部、美国检察官办公室和执法部门作为武器，追捕他认为的敌人。”“这种公然和堕落的政治动机对法治具有深刻的腐蚀性，让我对唐纳德·特朗普对这些重要职位的意图深表怀疑。出于这个原因，我不会退回纽约南区和东区联邦检察官提名人的蓝纸条。”
参议院的蓝纸条传统只是一种传统，而不是法律。
这将取决于司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利，他是否最终在这个案件中尊重这个蓝纸条程序。
“司法委员会长期以来一直尊重美国检察官提名人的传统蓝纸条程序，”爱荷华州共和党人格拉斯利的发言人在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时表示，舒默打算不退还他对两名纽约美国检察官的蓝纸条。
格拉斯利最近告诉《纽约时报》，他将尊重参议员拒绝归还蓝纸的权利。
“答案是肯定的，”当被问及是否会尊重参议员的蓝纸条立场时，格拉斯利说。"如果他们来自提名的州."
Schumer moves to block Trump nominees for 2 key New York prosecutor positions
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that he'll use a Senate procedure that allows home state senators to object to judicial nominees to attempt to block PresidentDonald Trump's picks for two key prosecutor positions: the U.S. Attorneys for the Southern and Eastern Districts ofNew York.
The blue slip process, which has long been honored by the Senate Judiciary Committee, asks for the signoff of home-state senators before proceeding with nominations for U.S. Attorney positions.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, is refusing to return his blue slip for the nominations of Jay Clayton to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and Joseph Nocella Jr. to be the lead prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York.
“Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies," Schumer said in a statement. "Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of the Donald Trump’s intentions for these important positions. For that reason, I will not return the blue slip for the U.S. Attorney nominees for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.”
This blue slip tradition in the Senate is just that: a tradition, not a law.
It will be up to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley whether he ultimately honors this blue slip process in this case.
"The Judiciary Committee has long honored the traditional blue slip process for U.S. Attorney nominees," a spokesperson for Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told ABC News when reached for comment on Schumer's intention not to return his blue slip on the two New York U.S. attorneys.
Grassley recently told the New York Times he would honor the right of Senators to refuse return of their blue slips.
“The answer is yes,” Grassley said when asked whether he would honor the blue slip position of senators. “If they are from the state the nomination comes from."
