Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn has a warning for the White House if it ignores the suggestions of his judicial nominations committee.
"Have they heard of the words 'blue slip' before?" Cornyn asked.
Cornyn and fellow Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison intend to continue to solicit recommendations from a committee of home-state lawyers about who would make good nominees. Cornyn met with White House Counsel Gregory Craig about the matter last month and thought they'd come to some mutual understanding.
Only problem, as the Dallas Morning News has reported, is the White House says it will rely on the advice of the state's Congressional delegation for recommendations about who should be nominated as federal judge, U.S. attorney or U.S. marshal.
This week, Cornyn told CQ a reconstituted bipartisan committee is "open for business as vacancies come up" and hopes the White House takes their suggestions into consideration.
"It's not my intention to make threats or pick a fight," Cornyn said, but if the White House ignores their suggestions, withholding blue slips is "certainly always an option."
Despite Cornyn's threat, the White House's position remains unchanged.
While no federal judge, U.S. attorney or U.S. marshal will be nominated by the president "unless that person has the confirmed support of the Texas Democratic delegation," a statement issued by the White House says "the Texas U.S. senators will be accorded a full opportunity to share their views about each candidate whom the President proposes to nominate."
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Comments
There is a typo in this story:
". . . the White House says it will rely on the advice of the state's Congressional delegation for recommendations . . ."
It should read: ". . . the White House says it will rely on the advice of the state's *DEMOCRATIC* Congressional delegation for recommendations . . ."
Posted by: Piraeus
| April 27, 2009 6:44 PM
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