From Cafe in the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is Stay Tune in Brief. I'm Pete Barara.

There's a policy that every modern US attorney in federal judge is familiar with, and it's

one that most members of the public probably haven't heard of. It's called the Blue

Slip Rule, and it gives United States Senators the power to veto the nomination of certain

federal judges and prosecutors in their home states. It's more of a tradition than a formal

policy. The words Blue Slip don't appear in any law and certainly not in the Constitution,

but it's one that has allowed individual Senators to exert important influence over the

federal judiciary. Some consider the custom a valuable check on the power of the president.

Others think it's anti-democratic and slows down the confirmation process. That debate

is no longer academic. The Senate Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Diff Durban,

is now reportedly considering getting rid of Blue Slips. My guest this week is Leanne

Caldwell. She's a reporter at the Washington Post, where she focuses on Congress and politics.

She recently co-authored an article on the state, but Blue Slips. Leanne, welcome to the

show.

Great. Thanks for having me.

So I spent four and a half years on the Senate Judiciary Committee working for Chuck Schumer,

and I had as one of my responsibilities the duty of either submitting or not submitting

his Blue Slip at his direction. Of course, but I'm the one who checked the box based on

his direction. What the hell is the Blue Slip policy?

Well, as you I'm sure know very well, the Blue Slip policy happens when like you said in

your intro, it is really just a Senate tradition and it's a courtesy. And if there is a judge

who is nominated from let's say the state of Nebraska, then the two senators from that

...