Trump Puts GOP Senators On Notice Over Judicial Nominees: ‘Step Up’

President Donald Trump expressed his frustration with Republican Senate leaders over the lack of votes on his judicial nominees, including his nominees for federal judgeships and U.S. attorney positions. With the August recess fast approaching, the Republican-controlled Senate has confirmed a historically low number of judicial nominees.

As of this report, just one Article III judge has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate when Judge Whitney D. Hermandorfer was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. There are currently 11 nominations awaiting Senate action, three for the courts of appeals and eight for the district courts.

The pace of judicial confirmations in Trump’s second term is historically slow. For comparison, the average number of judicial confirmations by this point in a term stands at 11, with former President Barack Obama having 26 of his nominees confirmed by July 29.

In a lengthy Truth Social post, President Trump pressed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to pick up the pace. “Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,” the president wrote, adding that Senate Democrats are determined to block any and all nominees.

“Put simply, the President of the United States will never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice because of an ancient, and probably Unconstitutional, “CUSTOM,” that if you have, even one person in the opposite Party serving in the U.S. Senate, he/she must give consent, thereby completely stopping the opposite Party’s Nomination,” Trump continued.

“The only way to beat this Hoax is to appoint a Democrat or, a weak and ineffective Republican. Therefore, I would never be able to appoint Great Judges or U.S. Attorneys in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, and other places, where there is, coincidentally, the highest level of crime and corruption — The places where fantastic people are most needed!”

He then called on Senator Grassley to “step up,” pointing to previous instances under the Biden Administration when the Senate custom was set aside.

“He should do this, IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective. The Democrats have broken this ridiculous custom on us, it’s time that we break it on them. Chuck, I know you have the Courage to do this, DO IT!”

In addition to judicial nominees, the Senate is moving slow on the president’s nominees for U.S. attorney positions. Alina Habba, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, was recently removed from her interim appointment by Democrat judges. On July 22, 2025, New Jersey’s federal district court judges, led by Chief Judge Renée Marie Bumb, declined to extend Habba’s interim term beyond the 120-day limit by invoking a rarely used authority under federal law.

The judges then appointed their own replacement, who was immediately fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump then reappointed Habba to the position using a vacancy loophole that will allow her to serve for an additional 210 days.

Lack of confirmations for U.S. attorneys is likely to create similar dilemmas in districts controlled by Democrat-appointed judges. Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, is under similar threat of removal.

“I have a 120-day expiration on my appointment, which expires on the 30th. There is no appetite in the US Senate to change this rule, and there is certainly no world in which Adam Schiff and Sen. Padilla are going to agree to my nomination,” Essayli, who has already started a number of high-profile cases relating to the Los Angeles riots and immigration law, told The Blaze founder Glenn Beck.

“The problem is the blue slip. The Senate, by rule and tradition, not by law, has set up a system where they get to be kings of their state. In the blue states, nobody can be a judge or US Attorney unless the hometown senators sign off on them,” he added.