AFJ Applauds Senators Merkley, Wyden on Blue Slip Stand

Washington, D.C., September 8, 2017 – In response to the announcement by Senators Merkley and Wyden that they will not return blue slips on the nomination of Ryan Bounds, President Trump’s nominee for a seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, AFJ President Nan Aron issued the following statement:

“Senators Merkley and Wyden took an important and courageous stand in announcing they will not return blue slips to advance a judicial candidate on whose nomination they were never consulted. This is especially important at a time when the Trump Administration and Senate Republicans seem bent on upending time-tested traditions, and sacrificing Senate comity, in order ram through a slate of ultraconservative judicial nominees. We need more Democratic senators to show strength on this issue as Wyden and Merkley have done.”