On Thursday, former President Donald Trump took aim once more at the “blue slip” tradition, a Senate practice that empowers home-state senators to block the nomination of district court judges and U.S. attorneys.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump lamented that eight U.S. attorney nominees he described as “Highly Respected” are facing confirmation roadblocks in key states simply because they are affiliated with the Republican Party.

Trump accused Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee of persuading its chair, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, to adhere to the “blue slip” tradition.

“These GREAT individuals have had their careers unfairly damaged by Radical Left Democrats exploiting an outdated and absurd tradition to serve their own interests,” Trump remarked. “It’s truly a disgrace!”

Traditionally, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee refrains from moving forward with such nominations until both senators from the applicable state submit blue-slip endorsements.

Trump has criticized the practice in the past, including in August, when he said his constitutional right to appoint judges and U.S. attorneys “has been completely taken away from me” in states with at least one Democratic Senator. 

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Grassley directed The Hill to his post on the social platform X in August, in response to the president’s most recent criticism of the custom.

Grassley said that any U.S. attorney and district judge nominee “without a blue slip does not hv the votes to get confirmed on the Senate floor & they don’t hv the votes to get out of cmte.

“As chairman I set Pres Trump noms for SUCCESS NOT FAILURE.”

U.S. attorney nominees that are located in states with at least one Democratic senator include Jay Clayton in the Southern District of New York and Erin Creegan in New Hampshire. 

In July, Trump had to withdraw the nomination of Alina Habba, his former defense attorney, to be U.S. attorney for New Jersey after the state’s Democratic senators, Andy Kim and Cory Booker, opposed it.

The administration then sought to keep her in the role without Senate confirmation, but a federal judge ruled in August that she was unlawfully serving as the Garden State’s top federal prosecutor.