Here’s the introduction to my new Confirmation Tales post:
Divisions among Republican senators meant that their 55-seat majority in the Senate at the outset of Bill Clinton’s second presidential term did not readily translate into collective power to block Clinton’s judicial nominees. Under the Senate Judiciary Committee’s longstanding “blue slip” practice, individual Republican senators had real clout over Clinton’s judicial nominations in their states. But the limits of the blue slip spurred some Republicans to entertain two extraordinary but little-known proposals that would have radically expanded the power of individual senators over appellate nominations. One of those proposals was defeated by a single vote.
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