Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who has abused the blue slip system to keep Brad Schimel from being confirmed as U.S. Attorney, slammed his appointment as First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin accused President Donald Trump of attempting an “illegal stunt” to circumvent Wisconsin’s longstanding bipartisan process for selecting U.S. attorneys, following the administration’s move to keep Brad Schimel in a leadership role at the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Once again, Donald Trump is trying to skirt the law and make an end run around the process that Senator Johnson and I have set up,” Baldwin said in a statement. “Finding common ground and compromise has been the Wisconsin way for decades when it comes to finding high-quality, impartial prosecutors, and that is what Wisconsinites deserve – not this illegal stunt.”
The controversy stems from Schimel’s initial appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in November. Schimel, a former Republican attorney general and state Supreme Court candidate endorsed by Trump, was installed after the traditional nomination process stalled. Interim appointments are limited to 120 days under federal law, and district judges declined to extend his term beyond mid-March.
Rather than allow the position to remain vacant pending Senate confirmation, Attorney General Pam Bondi reassigned Schimel as first assistant U.S. attorney, enabling him to continue overseeing operations in Milwaukee. The move has drawn criticism from Baldwin, who argues it undermines the Senate’s advice-and-consent role and the blue slip tradition, which allows home-state senators to weigh in (or effectively block) nominations.
Critics of Baldwin point out that she previously abused the blue slip process to prevent Schimel from advancing through the bipartisan nominating commission co-established with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Despite Schimel’s extensive qualifications—including service as Wisconsin attorney general, circuit court judge in Waukesha County, and proven prosecutorial experience—Baldwin withheld her blue slip support, labeling him a “partisan actor” and “failed politician” unfit for the role. This obstruction, conservatives argue, reflects a pattern of Democrats weaponizing Senate customs to block qualified Republican appointees, prioritizing political loyalty over merit and impartiality.
Currently, one-third of President Trump’s nominees for U.S. Attorney have not been confirmed because of Democrat abuses of the blue slip system.
