Political Obstructionism Hampers Biden's Judicial Nominations

Senate Republicans have blocked one of Joe Biden's judicial nominees, and the White House is not intervening in the debate around blue slips, a procedural tool used to clog the judicial nomination pipeline. There are currently nearly 40 judicial vacancies that Biden could seek to fill in courts in red states, but the blue slip custom generally dictates that if a home-state senator doesn’t return the blue slip, the majority party halts the nomination. Biden has not joined progressives in calling for Democrats to ignore blue slips, and Senate Democrats are generally deferring to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin on the issue.