Once again, headlines scream that a “Donald Trump appointee” has ruled against him. The latest example? Judge Karen Immergut of the U.S. District Court for Oregon, who recently blocked President Trump’s authority to deploy federalized National Guard troops in Portland — a decision the Trump team is expected to appeal.

But this same judge also upheld Oregon’s Ballot Measure 114, the sweeping anti-gun referendum that banned so-called “large-capacity magazines” and imposed restrictive licensing requirements.

So, how does a judge like this get labeled a Trump appointee? The answer lies in an obscure but powerful Senate tradition known as the “blue slip process.”

Under Article III of the Constitution, federal judges are appointed for life by the President, but only after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. For district court nominees — judges who serve within individual states — a long-standing Senate courtesy comes into play:

When a President nominates a judge for a district court seat, the Senate Judiciary Committee sends a blue slip to the two home-state senators. Each senator can either:

• Approve the nomination
• Reject it
• Ignore it altogether

If the home-state senators (for example, both Democrats from Oregon) don’t return the blue slip with approval, the Judiciary Committee won’t even hold a hearing on that nominee.

That means a Republican president, like Donald Trump, cannot appoint a solid conservative to a federal bench in a blue state unless the Democrat senators sign off.

In deep-blue states like Oregon, California, and New York, Trump couldn’t get conservative judges through this process. Instead, political deals were made. The White House would nominate candidates pre-approved by Democrat senators — individuals who could sail through the confirmation process.

That’s why judges like Karen Immergut — who later issued rulings upholding gun control laws and blocking Trump administration actions — are “Trump appointees” in name only.

Yes, their official appointment papers were signed by President Trump, but their selection was dictated by Democrat senators through the blue slip system.

So when mainstream outlets claim that “Trump’s own appointees are turning on him,” they’re leaving out critical context. These judges were never Trump’s personal picks for the bench — they were politically negotiated compromises to fill vacancies in blue states.

This misunderstanding fuels a false narrative that even Trump’s own judiciary doesn’t support him, when in fact, these judges were effectively chosen by Democrats under Senate rules that predate his presidency.

Understanding this process makes you the smartest person in the room when legal pundits talk about “Trump-appointed judges.”

It also explains why rulings in cases involving the Second Amendment, federal authority, or state gun laws often seem out of step with Trump’s judicial philosophy — even when the judge was appointed during his term.

In short:

• Yes, Judge Karen Immergut is technically a Trump appointee.
• No, she wasn’t a conservative originalist chosen by Trump himself.
• Yes, the blue slip process ensured only Democrat-approved judges could fill Oregon’s federal bench.

When you hear that another “Trump-appointed judge” has ruled against him, remember the blue slip backstory. It’s not betrayal — it’s bureaucracy. And it’s one of Washington’s best-kept secrets about how judicial appointments really work.