Political Quotes

“there is an issue coming up before the Senate this week which really goes to the heart of this institution and why it exists. The Constitution spells out responsibilities for Congress and specific responsibilities when it comes to this Chamber. The 100 men and women who serve today, among other things, have a responsibility to advise and consent on nominations that have been sent by the President for our consideration. The Constitution assigns the Senate the role of questioning these nominees, of checking into their backgrounds, and then of deciding whether to approve or disapprove their nominations. Over the past 2 years, we have seen many of the guardrails in this process disappear. For example, the Republican majority has stopped respecting blue slips on circuit court nominations. Blue slips, which are a Senate tradition, say that if a person is nominated to serve on the circuit court, which is the second highest court in the land, the Senators from the State within which that person would serve would decide with a thumbs up or a thumbs down as to whether the nomination will go forward--the so-called blue slip. For a number of years now, that has been the U.S. Senate's standard practice, its tradition. The Republican majority has decided to stop the blue-slip process when it comes to circuit court nominations. It also has stopped moving bipartisan board and commission nominations in pairs.…”