Biden court pick hits roadblock after GOP objection

President Biden’s nominee to fill a district court vacancy is hitting a dead end in the wake of pushback from GOP Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.). 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told The Hill on Wednesday that he isn’t moving forward with William Pocan’s nomination after Johnson indicated last month that he wouldn’t support Pocan.

The Senate has a precedent, known as the blue slip rule, that allows a home-state senator to effectively block a district court nominee from their state by not returning their blue slip, a piece of paper that indicates if a senator supports a nomination.  

Durbin indicated in the immediate wake of Johnson’s opposition that he hadn’t yet decided whether to move forward with the nomination.

Durbin had generally pledged to honor the blue slip precedent for district court nominees but left the door open to exceptions if the process was abused by GOP senators or in “those cases where it appears to clearly be a case of discrimination based on gender, race or sexual orientation.”

“The blue slip on district courts is clear,” Durbin told The Hill on Wednesday, adding that the caveat he had previously outlined “doesn’t apply here, I don’t think.” 

Johnson and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) previously recommended Pocan as a potential pick to fill the vacancy. Wisconsin uses a nominating commission that recommends four to six names to the senators, who then formally make recommendations to the president.

Durbin pointed to the two senators and the White House reaching a deal on an alternative nominee as the next step for filling the Wisconsin district court vacancy. 

“They have other names that they have proposed to the White House and if they can agree on one, that would be the next step,” he said.

Spokespeople for the White House and Baldwin didn’t immediately respond to questions about the nomination and next steps on coming up with a potential alternative nomination.  

Pocan marks the first case of a Biden district court nomination stalling out because of a blue slip objection from a home-state senator 

Though Republicans confirmed appeals court nominees for then-President Trump over an objection from home-state senators, they kept the blue slip precedent for district court nominees.  

Johnson confirmed on Wednesday that he had spoken with Durbin, but indicated that the White House hadn’t yet reached out to him 

“I’ve talked to Sen. Durbin about that and he’s aware that there are other alternatives,” Johnson said.