密歇根新闻广播 特朗普任命的人才能否得到参议员的支持

（单词翻译）

Joan Larsen faces a tangled¹ path to a plum spot on a federal appeals court. The only thing standing² in her way is Michigan’s two U.S. Senators.

Joan Larsen is a Michigan Supreme³ Court justice. She was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder.

She’s popular with Michigan Republicans and Democrats⁴ and she’s recently been nominated by President Trump⁵ to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

It’s a court that has made some big decisions like in 2014 when it ruled on Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban.

It was the only federal appeals court in the country to uphold a state ban on same-sex marriage. That decision famously sent the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Larsen was on President Trump’s list of possible U.S. Supreme Court nominees⁷ when he was candidate Trump. So, this nomination⁸ is no surprise.

But, the position must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate where there is a courtesy known as the “blue slip.” The tradition dates back at least 100 years and it allows senators from a nominee⁶’s home state to give a ‘yea’ or a ‘nay’ on the nominee.

Michigan’s two Democratic U.S. senators - Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters - have done neither. They have yet to return their blue slips on Joan Larsen.

And that is holding up the Senate confirmation⁹ process.

It has become a political issue. A conservative group called the Judicial¹⁰ Crisis Network has spent at least $140,000 on an ad that calls the delay “partisan¹¹ politics.”

And, maybe it is partisan politics. But, it’s not new.

Just last year in fact, in the Sixth Circuit, President Obama nominated a state Supreme Court Justice from Kentucky. And, guess what? Both Republican Senators from that state - Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul - held on to their ‘blue slips.’

It wasn’t until President Trump was sworn in and nominated a different candidate that they turned in the slips. So, are we seeing a little payback here?

The ‘blue slip’ is the minority party’s only card since Senate Democrats ended the option of filibustering¹² lower court nominations¹³.

So now, Michigan Senators Stabenow and Peters seem to be compiling their own list of potential federal court nominees. A recent joint¹⁴ release invites people to “apply” through their offices to fill vacancies¹⁵ on federal courts here in Michigan.

Next move, Republicans?

There’s talk the Senate committee chair could simply ignore the ‘blue slip’ process and allow the nomination to go forward. It’s a tradition, not a law. But, it would be a big deal to suddenly change a Senate courtesy after a century.

Trump could also withdraw the Larsen nomination and name someone from a state in the Sixth Circuit with Republican senators. Tennessee and Kentucky both fit that bill.

It’s a game of political chicken. We’ll see how far it goes.