Trump handed historic victory

Thanks to a Republican and a Democrat, President Trump is kicking federal judiciary butt while Al Franken is grabbing butt and telling us how sad it makes him feel.

We don't care how you feel, Al. Your feelings don't matter.

Anyway, the Republican to whom Trump owes a thank you is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The senator is the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and has just used that clout to get rid of one of the final hurdles regarding judicial appointments to the federal bench.

Specifically, last week Grassley decided not to hold u hearings for judicial nominees who aren't first cleared by their own home state senators. This is a Senate tradition known as "blue slip courtesy" that originated at a period in our history before communication technology and the state senator had access to much more information than the rest of the nation.

Grassley noted that Democrats were trying to use the blue slips tradition to replace the filibuster that their fellow Democrat, now retired, Harry Reid made possible by killing the filibuster rules. (Yes, Reid is the Democrat that President Trump should thank.) So Grassley gifted Trump with the ability to appoint federal judges. 

This comes at a time when the media is covering stories about Trump's difficulties working with Congress, especially Senators Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and John McCain. This, of course, is understandable  because it's unprecedented for a president to feud as much as Trump has with his own party this early in his presidency.

And unless the Democrats can win the Senate majority in 2018, there is nothing they can do about it.

It's obvious that Trump is going to take the credit for the appointments, but that's okay--it's what presidents do.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


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