That’s the title of my new Confirmation Tales post, which begins:
Until it was dramatically revised for appellate nominations in late 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s blue-slip practice gave home-state senators extraordinary influence over appellate picks in their states, even when the president was of the opposing party. But it wasn’t always clear which state was the home state for an appellate seat.
Idaho judge N. Randy Smith learned that lesson the hard way when George W. Bush nominated him in December 2005 to fill the Ninth Circuit seat vacated by Stephen Trott.