Schumer Moves To Block Trump's Top Prosecutors

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is seeking to block confirmation for President Donald Trump’s nominees for top federal prosecutors in New York.

His hard line comes as he's facing mounting pressure from his party’s base to push back against the Trump administration more aggressively following his decision last month to allow a GOP-drafted government funding bill to advance rather than use his leverage and threaten a shutdown. At the same time, Schumer's stance also could have repercussions for longstanding norms granting lawmakers a say in who represents their constituents on the federal bench.

Senate leaders typically defer to senators to sign off on confirming judicial nominees in their home states, awaiting a return of the so-called blue slip to begin the confirmation process in the Judiciary Committee.

But Schumer announced Wednesday morning he will not return the blue slip for Trump's picks to serve as New York attorneys: Jay Clayton to head the Southern District of New York office, which oversees Wall Street and regularly prosecutes some of the country’s biggest white-collar cases; and Joseph Nocella Jr. to run the Eastern District of New York office, which prosecutes scores of MS-13 gang cases as well as immigration matters arising from John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies,” Schumer said in a statement. “Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of … Donald Trump’s intentions for these important positions.”

This game of hardball could play well with progressive activists, who called for Schumer's ousting as leader after the government funding fight and floated the prospect of a potential 2028 primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

It also could come as a relief in New York’s Southern District, which has been in a state of turmoil since the Trump administration ordered it to abandon its prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The current interim U.S. attorney, who has a long history with the office, could continue to run operations there, rather than a newcomer like Clayton, a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission who has never before worked as a prosecutor.

Still, it now sets up a larger dilemma for Senate Republicans around whether they will discard the blue slip precedent in order to push forward with confirming Trump’s judicial picks. If Senate GOP leaders stick to precedent and let Schumer's position carry weight, Trump won’t be able to install his choices to lead two of the most important prosecutorial offices in the country, likely giving Republicans a moment's pause on how to proceed.

During the first Trump administration, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley abandoned the practice of requiring approval from home state senators for circuit court nominees. But since then, the Senate has maintained the blue slip tradition for other nominees, and if Grassley and Senate Majority Leader John Thune were to forge ahead with the two U.S. attorney picks in New York in spite of Schumer's opposition, they would be bucking a Senate tradition.

Grassley, an Iowa Republican, isn't tipping his hand just yet.

“The Judiciary Committee has long honored the traditional blue slip process for U.S. Attorney nominees,” said Grassley spokesperson Clare Slattery in a statement.