President Donald Trump says the Senate’s century-old tradition of allowing home state senators to sign off on some federal judge and U.S. attorney nominees is “old and outdated.” Republican senators disagree.

Senators approve of a nominee by returning their blue slip to the Judiciary Committee Chairman. If a senator does not return their blue slip or returns it with objections, the nominee does not advance. In blue states like New York, some of Trump's judicial nominees have stalled out because Democratic senators have not returned blue slips.