Did Michigan’s Democratic senators work with the White House on a judicial nomination? They won’t really say.
Their vague press statement wasn’t very helpful.
When Trump announced six new lifetime judicial nominees on Monday, something stood out: Two of the district court picks were from states with at least one Democratic senator. This is the first time that’s happened during Trump’s second term.
Michael Martin, nominated to the Eastern District of Michigan, and Antonio Pozos, nominated to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, will need the support of their home-state senators — including Democratic Senators Gary Peters, Elissa Slotkin, and John Fetterman — if the Senate Judiciary Committee, under current customs, even proceeds with a hearing on their nominations.
It is unclear whether some of those senators worked with the White House and agreed to these nominations — or whether Trump is more directly challenging Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley on blue slips (more on that below). A statement emailed to Nomination Notes from a spokesperson for Senator Peters wasn’t very clarifying.
“Senators Peters and Slotkin have continued a decades long bipartisan committee process to interview and vet qualified candidates with ties to their communities in Michigan to fill judicial and U.S. Attorney vacancies,” the statement said. “Now that Mr. Martin has been nominated by President Trump, the Senate will continue its process of carefully reviewing his nomination.”
I asked both offices whether Senators Peters and Slotkin are still reviewing his record and will decide at a later date whether to return their blue slips on his nomination, or whether this indicates that they will return their blue slips — leaving the rest of the Senate to carefully review his record and decide whether to confirm him. I did not receive a response.
In March 2025, the Michigan senators announced they were accepting applications from individuals who were interested in serving as a federal judge, US Attorney, or US Marshal. “Peters and Slotkin will continue to listen to public input and consult with Michigan’s legal community to ensure that our state is served by highly qualified, fair, and impartial judges that put the people of Michigan first,” the announcement stated.
Senator Fetterman’s office did not respond to my initial inquiry. But as Benjamin Weiss reported for Courthouse News Service, Senator Fetterman said “he hadn’t worked with the White House on any judicial nominees and that he hadn’t made any decision on whether to return a blue slip for Pozos.”
Senator Fetterman’s more frank response begs the question: If Senators Peters and Slotkin have not been working with the White House on the Martin nomination — why wouldn’t they just say so?
The vacancies in the Eastern District of Michigan and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are not judicial emergencies. They are home to cities like Detroit and Philadelphia, where Trump and his legal team aggressively sought to disenfranchise Black voters following his loss in the 2020 election. No Democratic senator should be allowing Trump to fill district court vacancies in their state, especially ones — like Senator Peters — who are retiring.
In states with two Republican senators, there are 10 current judicial vacancies (without nominees) that Trump can fill in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas. There are two future vacancies in North Carolina and Tennessee. And it’s possible that more district court and circuit court judges could take senior status in the weeks ahead, opening up even more seats for Trump to fill.
So why is this happening now?
Blue slips
To date, Chair Chuck Grassley has honored blue slips for district court nominees — meaning he will not move forward on a nominee until both home-state senators approve of the nomination. He has so far insisted that his position won’t be changing.
But Trump, for many months, has been pressuring Grassley to end this tradition and allow him to install loyalists onto courts in states represented by at least one Democratic or Independent senator. Last July, he urged Grassley to end the “SCAM,” saying that “Democrats like Schumer, Warner, Kaine, Booker, Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates.” In August, Trump wrote that “Chuck Grassley should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles, and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to HELL!”
Trump actually threatened some sort of lawsuit to end blue slips, even though they’re an informal Senate tradition.
And a few months later in December, Trump yet again pleaded with Grassley — and Majority Leader John Thune — to do something. “It is shocking that Republicans, under Senator Chuck G, allow this scam to continue. So unfair to Republicans, and not Constitutional,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I am hereby asking Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a fantastic guy, to get something done, ideally the termination of Blue Slips. Too many GREAT REPUBLICANS are being, SENT PACKIN’. None are getting approved!!!”
To be clear, the Senate has approved every judicial nominee who has come up for a vote on the Senate floor, including extremists like Emil Bove, Josh Divine, and Justin Olson.
If blue slips are returned on their nominations, Martin and Pozos could appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing in June.