Sen. Pat Toomey
inexplicably has been blocking a judicial nominee whom he actually endorsed and has been supporting since 2013. But Toomey won't provide his "blue slip" for the nomination—the formal go-ahead senators give the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to proceed with nomination hearings. Why Toomey hasn't provided his blue-slip is a mystery, Toomey has been refusing to explain. But now he's taking a new approach, by
denying that he's holding up the nomination, while he's clearly holding up the nomination.
Toomey has been getting pummeled back home for the Senate's delay in confirming Luis Felipe Restrepo to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. President Barack Obama nominated Restrepo in November with Toomey's strong support, but the nomination hasn't moved since. In the meantime, the vacancy he would fill has been deemed a "judicial emergency," which means the court is drowning in cases. […]
But he fired back at critics Wednesday, saying the only reason he hasn't turned in his blue slip is because the committee is still vetting Restrepo's background.
"I am not delaying Judge L. Felipe Restrepo's 3rd Circuit nomination," Toomey wrote in a defiant Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed.
"I have made it clear to the committee that I plan to turn in my 'blue slip'—the formal manifestation of my support for Judge Restrepo—the day that investigation is completed, provided no issues of concern are discovered," he wrote.
Except, as Huffington Post notes, that's not true. His fellow Pennsylvanian, Democrat Bob Casey, provided his blue slip back in November and the committee's investigation of Restrepo continued apace—the one thing has nothing to do with the other. Additionally, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley says that he'll hold the hearings "[w]hen I get the blue slips returned." At the same time, Grassley's staff is giving Toomey some cover, saying that it's "prudent" for a senator to hold out on the blue slip until the vetting process is done. Meanwhile, Restrepo has waited six months for a hearing.