The Blue Slip and the Senate Confirmation Process

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

The Blue Slip and the Senate Confirmation Process This project proposes to catalog all Senatorial blue slips available in the National Archives. Under the blue slip policy, each home state senator in the United States Senate is sent a query asking for their opinion and information on any judicial nominee from their state. While the formal role of providing consent to the President's nominees to the federal courts is specified by the Constitution, senators have long played a consultative role through the use of the blue slip mechanism. Digital scans of the blue slips will be made generally available. Furthermore, this project expands existing databases on lower federal court confirmation (currently only available for nominations from 1977 to 2004) to encompass 1891 to 1976. These steps will allow comprehensive analyses of the confirmation process and how it has evolved over time, as well as investigate what factors influence the return of the blue slip. Finally, this project aims to make theoretical contributions to the study of the judiciary and intergovernmental relations. The research builds on existing theories of the confirmation process to carefully examine claims about how the norm of the blue slip affects the confirmation process. A more complete picture of the judicial confirmation process will lead to a fuller understanding of key political players and their behavior while also addressing theoretical perspectives on how institutions evolve.