Trump criticizes Grassley over US attorney pick in New York

most arcane in the Senate, which has abandoned plenty of previous customs in recent years. Yet the veto power is still viewed as vital by members in both parties. Republicans used blue slips to gain leverage over Democrats just last year, keeping open judgeships in conservative states until Trump became president.ADSen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was Judiciary chair then and faced harsh pressure to eviscerate the tradition but held firm. Now Grassley appears committed to returning the favor.The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.Grassley has wide support from most of his colleagues. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters there’s not a ton of interest in scrapping the blue slip.Still, Republicans take issue with Democrats stepping up to stymie a nominee like Clayton, who received bipartisan support when he was confirmed to lead Trump’s first-term SEC. (Clayton, notably, has no prosecutorial experience.). That’s in addition to the nominee backlog on the Senate floor.Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told Semafor there’s “incredible frustration” on Democrats’ procedural tactics delaying nominees. But he added, “on the blue slip, I think members want to keep that.”“It’s so important for judges in their state and they want to have input. And so when we don’t have the administration … we need that process. That’s why I think there’s support to keep them,” Hoeven said.Clayton is currently serving as temporary acting chief of the SDNY office, a term that expires next month; he was unaware of the firing of Maurene Comey from his office before it occurred at the behest of administration officials, The New York Times reported.Shelby Talcott contributed.