Congressional Black Caucus to Dick Durbin: Do something

Members of the House Congressional Black Caucus met face-to-face with Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin last week to give him this message: The archaic blue slip tradition he’s following is harming Black people. Senate Republicans are blocking district court nominations in their states, and the vacancies on those courts means justice is delayed.

“I don’t know why anyone, let alone Senate Democrats, would hold up a Jim Crow practice,” Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada told Politico in an interview this week about the meeting he and the CBC had last week. “It is literally about the fundamental survival of the people we represent,” Horsford added. That’s not hyperbole. Many of the CBC members represent blue districts, often with Black majorities, in red states. They and their constituents are being ignored and thwarted by their Republican senators.