Judge Confirmed Despite No Blue Slip

“The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Trump’s pick for an influential circuit court despite neither home-state senator returning a blue slip,” The Hill reports.

“The confirmation of Joseph Bianco marks the third circuit court judge to ever be confirmed without a blue slip, a sheet of paper that indicates if a home-state senator supports a nominee… The blue-slip rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — has historically allowed a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return the blue slip to the Judiciary Committee.”