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Trump’s team had found a workaround to keep Habba in place, but a federal appeals court recently ruled her service unlawful. She resigned Monday, citing the need to “protect the stability and integrity of the office.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi moved quickly to appoint Habba as a senior advisor for U.S. attorneys while the administration appeals.
Similar obstacles have struck Trump nominees in New York and Virginia. Democrats are clearly weaponizing a long-standing courtesy to prevent Trump from placing allies in critical law enforcement roles.
Trump Demands Change from Senate Leadership
At a White House farm relief event Monday, Trump leveled criticism at Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley for allowing Democrats to block nominees.
“If I put up George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to be U.S. attorney in New Jersey, or to be U.S. attorney in Virginia, we have Democrat senators [who] will not approve them,” Trump said.
He accused Democrats of repeatedly violating the blue slip tradition under Joe Biden, while Republican nominees face a stricter standard.
“I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one,” Trump continued. “And it’s a very sad situation. We’re losing a lot of great people.”
Trump called the blue slip “a tradition senators created to protect their ass” and insisted it should be eliminated, saying he wants to appoint “the most highly educated, the most respected people” without partisan roadblocks.
Republicans Also Lean on the Blue Slip
Grassley has defended the practice, pointing out that Republicans used blue slips to block 30 liberal judges during Biden’s presidency.
“I was offended by what the President said and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults,” Grassley told his Senate colleagues in July.
Democrats previously used the same tactic to stop Biden nominees in key courts, including the Sixth Circuit.
Even some Republican senators caution against eliminating the tradition. Senator John Kennedy warned Trump to “back off,” noting that Republicans also used blue slips to frustrate Biden nominees. Senator Thom Tillis called ending the process “a terrible, short-sighted ploy that paves the path for Democrats to ram through extremist liberal judges in red states over the long-term.”
A Complicated Balance for Trump
Trump’s allies like Eric Schmitt continue to support Grassley’s position. The concern is that without the blue slip, future Democrat presidents could fill federal courts in Republican states with radical leftist judges, leaving GOP senators powerless to stop them.
Habba’s forced resignation highlights the challenge Trump faces. Even as he fights for loyal allies, he encounters resistance from traditions Republicans want to preserve for strategic reasons.
This showdown with Grassley underscores that even a former president must navigate the constraints of the Senate, traditions, and political strategy — especially when the stakes involve the federal judiciary.
