Nate Raymond

(Reuters.) – Senate Republicans criticized the White House Wednesday for not sufficiently consulting two Tennessee GOP senators regarding President Joe Biden’s nomination of a Tennessee attorney to sit on a federal appeals court.

Andre Mathis was a Memphis-based lawyer from the law firm Butler Snow. He was the first Biden appellate choice to present before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mathis had no support from his home state senators, which created a challenge for President Obama’s efforts to quickly seat judges.

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn called it an “insulting” fact that neither she nor her fellow senator Bill Hagerty were consulted by the White House about Mathis. She also said that they didn’t receive “blue slips” in order to voice their opinions on Mathis.

Dick Durbin (a Democrat from Illinois) admitted that it was a mistake for the Tennessee senators to not have those blue forms. Home-state senators used to need to return them in order to consider a nomination.

Durbin claimed that they would have returned their blue slips against Mathis who was Black even if it had mattered. Democrats, however, are following the policy of Republicans to not listen to them during Trump’s administration for circuit nominations.

This helped Donald Trump, the former Republican president, to confirm 54 nominees for circuit courts during his four-year tenure. Many of these conservative judges were also confirmed over objections from home-state Democrats.

Durbin stated that “my colleagues from across the aisle would find it difficult to insist on this practice being reinstated by Democrats.”

Blackburn indicated that she has “serious concern” over Mathis’ performance and that, along with Hagerty had identified an alternative pick in Camille McMullen. This Democratic appointee to Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals is Black, and nearly a decade older then Mathis.

Mathis also had a “rapsheet with a laundrylist of citations,” including speeding tickets, which led to Mathis’ driver’s licence being suspended for failing to appear or pay his court fees.

Mathis apologized for the tickets that he had forgotten to pay. Mathis stated that he could assure the committee that he is a law-abiding citizen.

While GOP senators grumbled over the frustrations of their Tennessee counterparts, Republican John Kennedy from Louisiana admitted that it would be unfair for this administration to revive the blue slips process.

Durbin urged the two sides to come to an agreement to revive the practice. Durbin stated that this was possible following the 2024 election, “four years” of trying to balance books.

(NOTE: Camille McMullen has also been added to this article.