John Cornyn: “I have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee my entire time in the Senate. As the Presiding Officer knows, one of the…”

“I have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee my entire time in the Senate. As the Presiding Officer knows, one of the responsibilities of the Judiciary Committee is to vet and to vote on a President's nominees for judicial office. These are unique jobs because they last literally a lifetime, so it is very, very important that we vet these nominees. In my case, in the case of Texas, Senator Cruz and I have appointed a group of the best lawyers in the State of Texas on something we call the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee to help us screen the people who want to serve on the Federal bench, and so we are then in a position to enter a conversation with the White House, whether it is a Republican or a Democrat, about whether or not we will vote for and support that nominee for the Federal judiciary. There is something called the blue slip which is unique to the Senate Judiciary Committee where, if a home State Senator does not return a blue slip on somebody that the President has nominated, the committee will not process that nominee. So the Judiciary Committee has a very important role and one I think consistent with the responsibilities of vetting and considering these lifetime-tenure judges. For 13 years, I was a judge myself on the State court bench in Texas, so I have some strong views about the qualities that make for a good judge.…”