Senate Republicans Break With Trump, Slam His Attack on One of Their Most ‘Beloved’ Colleagues
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump angered several Republican senators this week, many of whom made the rare move of publicly speaking out against the president over his attack on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Trump raged at Grassley over the weekend for upholding the Senate’s long-standing “blue slip” rule, which allows a senator the right to block a judicial nominee in their state.
Trump’s former attorney, Alina Habba, is currently being blocked by New Jersey’s two Democratic senators from serving as a U.S. Attorney in the state, using the rule.
“This tradition that Senator Grassley is upholding effectively prevents anybody in a blue state from going through into the Senate to then be voted on,” Habba raged over the weekend, which led to Trump following suit soon after.
“I have a Constitutional Right to appoint Judges and U.S. Attorneys, but that RIGHT has been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator,” Trump wrote on Sunday night. “This is because of an old and outdated ‘custom’ known as a BLUE SLIP, that Senator Chuck Grassley, of the Great State of Iowa, refuses to overturn, even though the Democrats, including Crooked Joe Biden (Twice!), have done so on numerous occasions.”
Grassley has previously expressed his displeasure at Trump attacking him for upholding this tradition as head of the Judiciary Committee. “I was offended by what the President said. And I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults,” Grassley said late last month in response to a similar tirade from Trump on the issue.
Grassley’s GOP colleagues also came to his defense, speaking to The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Bolton, “I think it was a bad — No. 1, Chuck is beloved in our conference. No. 2, the blue-slip policy helps the president. He’s got staff giving him bad advice.”
“I think the president’s staff have a bad habit of advising him that it was a good idea,” Tillis said of Trump trying to pressure Grassley – the most senior Republican in the Senate. “The staff should have intervened and said, ‘This is not a good idea,'” added Tillis, who announced he was retiring after a spat with Trump earlier in the summer.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called Trump’s attack on Grassley “unnecessary.”
“I talked to Sen. Grassley — I think Sen. Grassley has long, long, long been a great team player, and I think he was just a little bit offended at the tone, and that’s not right. I’m a defender of the blue slip,” she added.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a Trump loyalist, added, “I do not agree with the president on that. I understand his frustration. President Biden had the same frustration.”
Kennedy added that “for district court judges, senators are much better able … to pick a lawyer from their community that satisfies what I call ‘community standards.'”
“With respect, Mr. President, pretty please, with sugar on top, back off this, because I don’t think the Senate’s going to go along, and I think it’s just a needless fight,” he concluded.
MAGA Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) even argued to keep “blue slips.”
“It happens on both sides. We were able to block some bad judges last time with a blue slip,” said Tuberville, adding, “it is what it is — it’s why the Senate works.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also defended the practice, “I think the blue slip process is something that’s been used for a long time by both sides, and neither side has violated its usage in the past. I don’t think there’s any strong interest in changing that up here.”
