WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.259 Welcome to today's custom deep dive. We are we're 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:05.419 so glad you're here with us. Yeah. Thrilled to 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:08.279 be diving into this one. Because we all know 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:10.060 the fundamental rules of the U .S. government. 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:12.699 Right. You know, the text of the Constitution, 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:17.339 the advice and consent clause, the separation 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:19.219 of power. Right. The stuff you learn in civics 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:21.980 class. Exactly. You've likely followed enough 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:24.219 political history to know how the formal procedures 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:27.640 are supposed to work. But today. Based on the 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.660 stack of sources you've provided us, we are looking 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:31.879 at something entirely different. We really are. 00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:34.259 We're opening up the shadow rule book. We're 00:00:34.259 --> 00:00:37.179 looking at a completely unwritten, totally unofficial 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:40.820 set of customs that secretly runs the show. It 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:44.119 dictates who gets into federal power. And I mean, 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:45.880 it can bring the president of the United States 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.880 to an absolute standstill. It's wild. The central 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.460 focus of our source material today is a longstanding 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.799 constitutional convention. It's known as senatorial 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.179 courtesy. Right. And our mission here is to analyze 00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:00.439 exactly how this unwritten rule functions as 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.359 a hidden engine of political patronage. And how 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:06.579 it started. Yes. How a moment of personal spite 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:09.480 all the way back during the George Washington 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.219 administration accidentally created it. Plus, 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:14.299 we'll look at the high stakes political chess 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.959 games it forces at the highest levels of government. 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:20.400 Basically, we're looking at how informal traditions 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.900 and personal leverage just routinely override 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:25.719 the formal written procedures of the republic. 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:28.000 That is exactly what we're looking at. OK, let's 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:30.040 unpack this. Let's look at the actual mechanism 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.659 of senatorial courtesy. Let's do it. The defining 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:35.420 characteristic here is that U .S. senators have 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:38.480 an ingrained tendency to support a Senate colleague 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.420 who opposes the appointment of a federal office 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:44.230 nominee from that senator's home state. Right. 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:47.090 So say the president nominates someone for a 00:01:47.090 --> 00:01:49.930 federal post in a specific state. The home state 00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:53.170 senator objects. And the rest of the Senate effectively 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:55.549 forms a blockade. They just vote the nomination 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:57.530 down at a pure deference to their colleague. 00:01:57.709 --> 00:02:00.450 Which seems crazy, right? The sources present 00:02:00.450 --> 00:02:03.969 this fascinating dual motivation for why a legislative 00:02:03.969 --> 00:02:07.109 body would willingly handcuff the executive branch 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:09.449 like this. Yeah, there's the public reason and 00:02:09.449 --> 00:02:11.810 the private reason. Exactly. The public -facing 00:02:11.810 --> 00:02:14.949 rationale is all rooted in the concept of collegiality 00:02:14.949 --> 00:02:17.569 and local expertise. I mean, the Senate operates 00:02:17.569 --> 00:02:21.139 as an exclusive club. Very exclusive. The operating 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:24.819 assumption is that a home state senator possesses 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:27.960 the most accurate firsthand knowledge of a nominee's 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:29.800 character. Their reputation in the community, 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:32.699 their actual qualifications. Right. Because a 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:34.639 president sitting in Washington, D .C., might 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.439 see a pristine resume. But the local senator 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.960 theoretically knows if the nominee is actually 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:42.680 respected back home or, you know, if they have 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.319 buried skeletons. That is the noble explanation. 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.219 We are deferring to local knowledge to ensure 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:51.259 quality candidates. Sure. That's what they say. 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:54.060 But the source material heavily emphasizes the 00:02:54.060 --> 00:02:56.460 unofficial, highly practical reason this custom 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:59.699 survives. It is an absolute powerhouse of political 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:02.879 patronage. Oh, massively. By honoring this courtesy, 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:05.580 senators collectively ensure that they each hold 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:07.800 the keys to federal power in their own respective 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.680 backyards. It essentially transforms a federal 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:12.900 appointment into a local political bargaining 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:16.780 chip. And that patronage system relies on a very 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:20.710 specific procedural sequence. Senatorial courtesy 00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:24.189 is at its absolute strongest when the president 00:03:24.189 --> 00:03:26.550 and the home state senator belong to the same 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:27.969 political party. Because they're supposed to 00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:30.830 be on the same team? Exactly. Because of this 00:03:30.830 --> 00:03:32.949 unwritten rule, the president is functionally 00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:36.090 required to consult the senator before ever submitting 00:03:36.090 --> 00:03:39.009 a formal nomination for a federal posting tied 00:03:39.009 --> 00:03:41.629 to that state. And if they don't? If a president 00:03:41.629 --> 00:03:44.330 were to bypass that consultation, they risk the 00:03:44.330 --> 00:03:46.409 senator raising a public objection on the Senate 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:48.840 floor. The resulting rejection wouldn't just 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:52.139 be a defeat. It would be a highly public, embarrassing 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:54.759 rebuke delivered by the president's own political 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.680 party. The threat of that embarrassment forces 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.439 the president to the negotiating table. The consultation 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.080 phase becomes the actual decision making arena. 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:05.759 Yes. The president might actively solicit the 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.060 senator for recommendations, essentially asking 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:10.539 the senator to handpick the nominee. And that 00:04:10.539 --> 00:04:12.580 allows the senator to reward loyal political 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:16.019 supporters, campaign donors, local allies, you 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:18.699 name it. They get prestigious federal jobs. Or 00:04:18.699 --> 00:04:21.180 if the president already has a candidate in mind, 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.079 they have to quietly seek the senator's advance 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.740 approval. It's a silent veto. The senator gets 00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:30.980 to play kingmaker behind closed doors before 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:34.060 the public even knows there's a vacancy. What's 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:36.060 fascinating here is a brilliant quote from the 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:38.420 sources by former United States Attorney General 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:41.079 Robert F. Kennedy. Oh, I love this quote. He 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.899 observed this entire dynamic and stated, basically, 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:46.060 it's senatorial appointment with the advice and 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:48.839 consent of the president. That is a staggering 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:52.199 observation. Isn't it? It completely inverts 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:54.240 the written text of the United States Constitution. 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:57.720 The formal document explicitly grants the power 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.399 of nomination to the president, with the Senate 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.839 acting as a check through their advice and consent. 00:05:03.209 --> 00:05:05.370 The president acts, the Senate reviews. That's 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:07.269 the written rule. Right. But Kennedy's point 00:05:07.269 --> 00:05:09.430 is that the unwritten custom has entirely flipped 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:12.550 that dynamic for local federal postings. In reality, 00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:14.949 the senator is often the one generating the nomination 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:18.209 through this patronage system. And the president 00:05:18.209 --> 00:05:20.949 is the one offering the advice and consent, just 00:05:20.949 --> 00:05:23.850 rubber stamping the choice to maintain party 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:27.240 harmony and avoid a floor fight. Exactly. It 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:30.259 is a profound structural shift in the separation 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:32.980 of powers. And you will not find a single word 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:35.699 of it authorized in the Constitution. The entire 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:38.459 federal appointment process for district judges 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.720 or U .S. attorneys is essentially outsourced 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.040 to the legislative branch. But wait, let's explore 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:45.759 the boundaries of this. We're talking about the 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.199 dynamic when the president and the senator are 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:50.759 on the same team. Right. The same party. What 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.160 is the incentive structure if they are from opposing 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:56.279 political parties? If the president is from party 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.000 A and the home state senator is from party B, 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:01.279 why would the president bother consulting them 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.459 at all? Doesn't the majority party just steamroll 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.519 the opposition and install whoever they want? 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:08.819 You'd think so. But the system has actually evolved 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:12.240 a specific mechanism to handle that exact scenario. 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:14.939 It prevents a complete shutout of the opposition. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:17.879 OK. The sources detail the blue slip policy maintained 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:20.120 by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The blue slip. 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:23.529 Yes. This is a tangible procedure, literally 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:27.089 utilizing a blue piece of paper that guarantees 00:06:27.089 --> 00:06:30.509 even opposition senators receive a consultative 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:32.949 role regarding major federal appointments in 00:06:32.949 --> 00:06:34.850 their state. We're talking about federal district 00:06:34.850 --> 00:06:37.009 and appellate court judges, U .S. attorneys, 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:40.350 federal marshals? Exactly. So the blue slip acts 00:06:40.350 --> 00:06:42.470 as a formal acknowledgement of the unwritten 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:45.209 rule. Even if you're an opposition senator, the 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:47.529 Judiciary Committee won't just move forward with 00:06:47.529 --> 00:06:50.290 a nominee for your state without sending you 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:53.250 this blue slip to solicit your opinion. It forces 00:06:53.250 --> 00:06:55.589 the administration to at least acknowledge the 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:57.930 local representative. Right. The power of that 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:00.329 blue slip can fluctuate depending on the era 00:07:00.329 --> 00:07:03.689 and who chairs the committee. But its core function 00:07:03.689 --> 00:07:07.180 is to mandate a degree of local buy -in. It prevents 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:09.180 the federal government from airdropping complete 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:12.199 outsiders or highly polarizing figures into a 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:14.819 state's judicial system without engaging the 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:16.519 elected representatives of that jurisdiction. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.220 And when you think about why this matters on 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:21.420 a systemic level to you, listening to this, it 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:24.300 reveals something fundamental about how the American 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:27.000 federalist system operates in practice rather 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:29.660 than in theory. Yes, it's a huge distinction. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.279 Federal judges, U .S. attorneys, federal marshals, 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:36.620 these are individuals who wield massive unilateral 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:39.899 power over the lives of citizens within a specific 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:42.579 geographic area. They enforce the law locally. 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:45.860 Right. And the blue slip policy, born from the 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:49.300 broader... of senatorial courtesy forces a compromise. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:52.300 It creates a structural buffer that keeps regional 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:54.920 voices relevant. It ensures that the national 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.839 executive branch cannot operate as a pure top 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.759 -down dictatorship when staffing the local enforcement 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.449 arms of the federal government. It embeds friction 00:08:03.449 --> 00:08:06.370 into the system by design. It requires negotiation 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:09.009 where the Constitution technically requires none. 00:08:09.189 --> 00:08:10.949 Here's where it gets really interesting. We're 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:13.810 looking at this massive entrenched system of 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:17.069 patronage, silent vetoes and blue slips. But 00:08:17.069 --> 00:08:19.050 how did the Senate actually seize this power? 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:21.370 Oh, this is the best part. The origin story in 00:08:21.370 --> 00:08:23.050 the source material takes us all the way back 00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:25.149 to the presidency of George Washington. The historical 00:08:25.149 --> 00:08:28.930 context is vital here. In 1789, the United States 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:30.990 federal government is in its absolute infancy. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.720 The ink on the Constitution is barely dry. Everything 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:36.840 is brand new. Right. The executive branch has 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.580 to be built from scratch, requiring a massive 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:42.539 wave of initial appointments. Up until the incident 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.860 we are about to discuss, the Senate had been 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:48.320 entirely compliant. They had given prompt universal 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.600 consent to every single one of Washington's presidential 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.080 nominations. Washington was a living legend, 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.230 the indispensable man. The Senate was not inclined 00:08:57.230 --> 00:08:59.350 to challenge his judgment. Right. Nobody wants 00:08:59.350 --> 00:09:01.330 to be the first person in history to tell George 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:04.169 Washington he is wrong. Nobody. But then comes 00:09:04.169 --> 00:09:06.429 the nomination for the port of Savannah, Georgia. 00:09:07.009 --> 00:09:09.970 Washington nominates a man named Benjamin Fishburne 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:13.169 to the post of naval officer for the port. It's 00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:15.730 a mid -level bureaucratic role. It shouldn't 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:18.179 have caused a ripple. Yet when the Senate takes 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:20.679 up Fishburne's nomination, the two senators from 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.100 Georgia immediately object. Senator James Gunn 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:26.600 takes the floor and explicitly speaks against 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:28.940 the nomination of Fishburne for this Georgia 00:09:28.940 --> 00:09:31.299 based federal office. And the rationale for the 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.240 objection is what makes this so incredible. Fishburne 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.600 wasn't incompetent. He wasn't a criminal. The 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.659 source notes that Senator Gunn's opposition was 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:42.080 likely driven by nothing more than personal animosity 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.740 toward the nominee. It was a local grudge. Gunn 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:47.919 just did not like Benjamin Fishburne. But isn't 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.019 that a massive flaw in the new system? How did 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:53.360 the framers of the Constitution, many of whom 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.000 were sitting in that very government, allow a 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.240 single senator's personal spite to override the 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.820 president's constitutional authority right out 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:03.799 of the gate? If we connect this to the bigger 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:06.740 picture. That is the exact moment the shadow 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:09.460 rulebook was written. The Senate was faced with 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.759 a choice. Do we back the universally revered 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.539 President Washington, or do we establish a precedent 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:18.299 that protects our own territorial power? And 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:21.419 they chose the latter. They did. The Senate deferred 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:23.899 to Senator Gunn and rejected the nomination of 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:26.720 Benjamin Fishburne. They effectively decided 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.360 in the first days of the republic that they would 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.879 form a united front to protect each other's local 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.620 authority over federal appointments. It's astounding. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:37.580 It wasn't a high minded philosophical debate 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:40.419 about the nature of executive power. It was a 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:43.419 fleeting moment of personal spite over a naval 00:10:43.419 --> 00:10:46.299 officer in Savannah. Yeah. And it accidentally 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:48.759 established a constitutional convention that 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:50.820 has dictated the balance of power for centuries. 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:54.000 The Senate realized that if they backed Gunn 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.379 today, Gunn would have to back them tomorrow 00:10:56.379 --> 00:10:58.559 when it came to appointments in their own states. 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:00.840 They built the engine of political patronage 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:03.679 right there on the floor. It is the perfect illustration 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.740 of how institutional power solidifies. An unwritten 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:10.899 rule is born the moment a group realizes a collective 00:11:10.899 --> 00:11:13.179 behavior benefits their individual leverage. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.039 Absolutely. But of course, an unwritten rule 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:17.659 is only as strong as the Senate's willingness 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.620 to enforce it. And testing the absolute limits 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:22.840 of that enforcement brings us to the highest 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:25.480 stakes possible in the American system. The Supreme 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.759 Court of the United States. Right. We've established 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:29.779 that this courtesy applies to district judges 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:33.179 and local federal marshals. But does a home state 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:35.659 senator have the power to veto a nominee to the 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:37.909 highest court in the land? The baseline rule 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:40.169 established in the text is that senatorial courtesy 00:11:40.169 --> 00:11:43.169 generally does not apply to Supreme Court appointments. 00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:45.429 OK, that makes sense. The jurisdiction of the 00:11:45.429 --> 00:11:48.289 Supreme Court is national, not local, and the 00:11:48.289 --> 00:11:50.850 stakes are far too high to allow a single senator 00:11:50.850 --> 00:11:54.250 to hold a seat hostage. However that general 00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:56.850 rule has a legendary exception. Oh there's always 00:11:56.850 --> 00:11:59.470 an exception. There are instances where senators 00:11:59.470 --> 00:12:02.070 have attempted to stretch this custom to the 00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:04.809 absolute breaking point. It leads to some of 00:12:04.809 --> 00:12:06.769 the most intense political maneuvering in American 00:12:06.769 --> 00:12:09.960 history. The source material highlights an absolute 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:12.500 brawl during the second administration of President 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:15.700 Grover Cleveland in 1894. Right. The conflict 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:18.700 begins when Associate Justice Samuel Blashford 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:21.659 dies, creating a sudden vacancy on the Supreme 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:24.379 Court. President Cleveland moves to fill the 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:27.419 seat, but he immediately runs into fierce, unyielding 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:30.220 opposition from Senator David B. Hill of New 00:12:30.220 --> 00:12:32.809 York. Now, Cleveland doesn't just fold. He tries 00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:35.090 to force his way through. The source details 00:12:35.090 --> 00:12:37.590 a double rejection that is almost hard to fathom 00:12:37.590 --> 00:12:40.009 today. It really is. Cleveland makes his first 00:12:40.009 --> 00:12:43.330 move, nominating William B. Hornblower. Senator 00:12:43.330 --> 00:12:45.750 Hill leverages his influence, and the Senate 00:12:45.750 --> 00:12:49.009 rejects the nominee. Denied. So Cleveland regroups, 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:52.090 refuses to consult Hill, and nominates a second 00:12:52.090 --> 00:12:55.169 man, Wheeler Hazard Peckham. And again, Senator 00:12:55.169 --> 00:12:57.590 Hill rallies the chamber, and the Senate blocks 00:12:57.590 --> 00:13:00.350 the nomination. The president of the United States 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:03.149 is publicly denied twice for a Supreme Court 00:13:03.149 --> 00:13:06.049 vacancy by a single senator. How did Senator 00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:08.409 Hill pull that off? The leverage Hill utilized 00:13:08.409 --> 00:13:10.690 was a masterful combination of raw political 00:13:10.690 --> 00:13:13.970 machinery and unwritten tradition. First, we 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:16.210 have to look at the motive. Hill didn't block 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:18.450 Hornblower and Peckham over deep ideological 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:22.009 devise regarding constitutional law. No. He blocked 00:13:22.009 --> 00:13:23.750 them because both men had previously opposed 00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:26.870 his political machine in New York. Hill was protecting 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:29.490 his political turf from enemies. A local political 00:13:29.490 --> 00:13:31.769 vendetta hijacking the composition of the Supreme 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:34.470 Court. Exactly. But Hill couldn't have convinced 00:13:34.470 --> 00:13:36.789 the entire Senate to reject Supreme Court nominees 00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.690 based on a personal vendetta alone. He needed 00:13:39.690 --> 00:13:42.370 an institutional excuse, a tradition the Senate 00:13:42.370 --> 00:13:43.990 felt compelled to honor. Right. They need cover. 00:13:44.230 --> 00:13:46.610 The source points out that the Senate afforded 00:13:46.610 --> 00:13:49.309 Hill this massive deference because the vacant 00:13:49.309 --> 00:13:51.929 seat, the one previously held by Justice Blatchford, 00:13:52.049 --> 00:13:54.779 had a unique history. All the way back to the 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:57.740 administration of Thomas Jefferson, that specific 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:00.480 bench seat had been held by appointees from New 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.299 York. It was unofficially designated as the New 00:14:03.299 --> 00:14:06.039 York seat. Precisely the kind of clubhouse tradition 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:09.019 the Senate loves to protect. Because it was the 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.659 New York seat, the Senate felt that the unwritten 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:15.059 rule of senatorial courtesy did apply. Granting 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:17.139 the New York senator the right to veto nominees, 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:20.179 he found objectionable. So Cleveland is trapped 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:23.039 in a corner. He's facing a hostile senator who 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:25.879 is successfully using an unwritten rule backed 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.299 by an ancient tradition about a specific chair 00:14:28.299 --> 00:14:30.480 on the bench to embarrass the administration 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.159 and protect his local political machine. He's 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:35.519 stuck. He can't beat Senator Hill with formal 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.899 constitutional authority because the Senate won't 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:40.059 give him the votes. So Cleveland does something 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:42.879 incredibly shrewd. He fights fire with fire. 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.179 He decides to beat an unwritten rule with another 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:48.929 unwritten rule. Cleveland realizes that a frontal 00:14:48.929 --> 00:14:52.610 assault on senatorial courtesy is failing. So 00:14:52.610 --> 00:14:54.690 for his third attempt to fill the vacancy, he 00:14:54.690 --> 00:14:57.649 pivots entirely. He nominates a man named Edward 00:14:57.649 --> 00:14:59.830 Douglas White. Who is that the masterstroke? 00:15:00.009 --> 00:15:02.549 Who is Edward Douglas White? White was not an 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:05.389 outsider. He was an incumbent United States senator 00:15:05.389 --> 00:15:08.950 representing Louisiana. It's brilliant. By nominating 00:15:08.950 --> 00:15:11.230 a sitting senator, Cleveland forces the Senate 00:15:11.230 --> 00:15:13.789 into a massive conflict of interest between their 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:16.500 own shadow rules. Exactly. The sources outline 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:19.440 a completely separate custom that existed alongside 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:22.740 senatorial courtesy. It's the tradition of all 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:25.419 but automatic approval of senatorial colleagues. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.440 They take care of their own. Always. When a president 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.600 nominated a current or former member of the U 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:32.899 .S. Senate to the Supreme Court, the chamber 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:35.500 would abandon its usual rigorous vetting process. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.200 They wouldn't even refer the nomination to a 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:41.720 committee for review. Out of profound professional 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.740 courtesy to one of their own club members, they 00:15:44.740 --> 00:15:47.440 would move directly to a swift and near -unanimous 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.330 confirmation. Cleveland essentially traps Senator 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:53.009 Hill. He puts White's name up and dares Hill 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:55.429 to object. Because if Hill objects, he isn't 00:15:55.429 --> 00:15:58.190 just fighting the president anymore. He is violating 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:00.950 the sacred, unwritten rule of automatic approval 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:04.230 for a fellow senator. Cleveland weaponizes the 00:16:04.230 --> 00:16:06.889 Senate's own elite club mentality against the 00:16:06.889 --> 00:16:09.870 obstructionist. And the strategy worked flawlessly. 00:16:10.409 --> 00:16:13.370 Senator Hill's opposition evaporated in the face 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.120 of this countercustom. The Senate quickly confirmed 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:18.460 Edward Douglas White, and President Cleveland 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:20.759 finally succeeded in filling the Supreme Court 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:23.679 vacancy by completely sidestepping the trap that 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:25.629 had been laid for him. So what does this all 00:16:25.629 --> 00:16:27.389 mean? When we step back and look at the entire 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:30.870 landscape we've covered, the daily grind of patronage 00:16:30.870 --> 00:16:33.450 for local federal marshals, the strategic use 00:16:33.450 --> 00:16:35.809 of blue slips by opposition parties. The petty 00:16:35.809 --> 00:16:38.789 grudge of Senator James Gunn in 1789. Right. 00:16:38.870 --> 00:16:41.190 All the way up to Grover Cleveland's brilliant 00:16:41.190 --> 00:16:43.610 use of conflicting customs to force a Supreme 00:16:43.610 --> 00:16:46.690 Court confirmation. How should you, the listener, 00:16:46.870 --> 00:16:49.490 synthesize all of this? The overarching takeaway 00:16:49.490 --> 00:16:52.649 from these sources is that. Senatorial courtesy 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:55.350 is the ultimate case study in how the actual 00:16:55.350 --> 00:16:57.669 mechanics of a government function in reality 00:16:57.669 --> 00:17:00.269 rather than in theory. The written text of the 00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:03.070 law, the Constitution, provides the structural 00:17:03.070 --> 00:17:06.349 skeleton. But the muscles and sinews that actually 00:17:06.349 --> 00:17:08.950 make the political body move are these informal 00:17:08.950 --> 00:17:11.930 traditions, the sense of intense collegiality 00:17:11.930 --> 00:17:15.190 and the behind -the -scenes leverage. The power 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:17.430 to appoint federal officials isn't just a clinical 00:17:17.430 --> 00:17:21.200 constitutional duty. It is a highly fluid, fiercely 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.599 contested currency that is traded on the floor 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:26.319 of the Senate every single day. Yeah. This raises 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.380 an important question. It really does. Thank 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:30.240 you for joining us on this deep dive into the 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.039 shadow rulebook of the United States Senate. 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.319 We have traced how a simple expectation of politeness 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.200 and collegiality in the 18th century calcified 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.740 into a hard -nosed structural veto that dictates 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:43.900 the composition of the federal judiciary to this 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:46.619 very day. Truly wild. As you go forward and watch 00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:48.880 the news, we want to leave you with a final lingering 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.009 thought to explore on your own. We've just spent 00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:54.869 our time dissecting one massive, highly influential, 00:17:55.170 --> 00:17:57.970 unwritten rule. But it makes you wonder how many 00:17:57.970 --> 00:18:00.430 other completely unofficial gentleman's agreements, 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:02.950 silent vetoes, and secret handshake traditions 00:18:02.950 --> 00:18:05.869 are quietly steering the actions of our highest 00:18:05.869 --> 00:18:08.369 institutions right now, completely absent from 00:18:08.369 --> 00:18:10.450 the actual written laws of the land. Keep your 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:12.329 eyes open, look past the parchment, and keep 00:18:12.329 --> 00:18:13.970 asking questions. Until next time.