Standing committee | |
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Active![]() United States Senate 116th Congress | |
History | |
Formed | December 10, 1816 |
Leadership | |
Chair | Lindsey Graham (R) Since January 3, 2019 |
Ranking member | Dianne Feinstein (D) Since January 3, 2017 |
Structure | |
Seats | 22 members |
Political parties | Majority (12)
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Jurisdiction | |
Policy areas | Federal judiciary, civil procedure, criminal procedure, civil liberties, copyrights, patents, trademarks, naturalization, constitutional amendments, congressional apportionment, state and territorial boundary lines |
Oversight authority | Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, federal judicial nominations |
House counterpart | House Committee on the Judiciary |
Meeting place | |
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. | |
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Website | |
judiciary | |
Rules | |
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, and review pending legislation. [1] [2]
The Judiciary Committee's oversight of the DOJ includes all of the agencies under the DOJ's jurisdiction, such as the FBI. It also has oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The committee considers presidential nominations for positions in the DOJ, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the State Justice Institute, and certain positions in the Department of Commerce and DHS. It is also in charge of holding hearings and investigating judicial nominations to the Supreme Court, the U.S. court of appeals, the U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade. [1] The Standing Rules of the Senate confer jurisdiction to the Senate Judiciary Committee in certain areas, such as considering proposed constitutional amendments and legislation related to federal criminal law, human rights law, immigration, intellectual property, antitrust law, and internet privacy. [1] [3]
Established in 1816 as one of the original standing committees in the United States Senate, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary is one of the oldest and most influential committees in Congress. Its broad legislative jurisdiction has assured its primary role as a forum for the public discussion of social and constitutional issues. The committee is also responsible for oversight of key activities of the executive branch, and is responsible for the initial stages of the confirmation process of all judicial nominations for the federal judiciary. [4]
Majority | Minority |
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Majority | Minority |
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In January 2018, the Democratic minority had their number of seats increase from 9 to 10 upon the election of Doug Jones (D-AL), changing the 52–48 Republican majority to 51–49. On January 2, 2018, Al Franken, who had been a member of the committee, resigned from the Senate following accusations of sexual misconduct.
Majority | Minority |
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Source: 2015 Congressional Record, Vol. 161, Page S66
Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking member |
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Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights | Mike Lee (R-UT) | Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) |
Border Security and Immigration | John Cornyn (R-TX) | Dick Durbin (D-IL) |
The Constitution | Ted Cruz (R-TX) | Mazie Hirono (D-HI) |
Crime and Terrorism | Josh Hawley (R-MO) | Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) |
Intellectual Property | Thom Tillis (R-NC) | Chris Coons (D-DE) |
Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts | Ben Sasse (R-NE) | Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) |
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories and several island possessions. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities. The Judiciary Committee is also the committee responsible for impeachments of federal officials. Because of the legal nature of its oversight, committee members usually have a legal background, but this is not required.
Mark Jeremy Bennett is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the United States Senate to override a standing rule of the Senate, such as the 60-vote rule to close debate, by a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the two-thirds supermajority normally required to amend the rules. The option is invoked when the majority leader raises a point of order that contravenes a standing rule, such as that only a simple majority is needed to close debate on certain matters. The presiding officer denies the point of order based on Senate rules, but the ruling of the chair is then appealed and overturned by majority vote, establishing new precedent.
The United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A blue slip or blue-slipping refers to two distinct legislative procedures in the United States Congress.
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over four hundred individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations, Congress confirmed 329 judgeships, 173 during the 111th & 112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congresses.
Patty Shwartz is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Todd Michael Hughes is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Theodore David Chuang is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and former Deputy General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
On January 31, 2017, soon after taking office, President Donald Trump, a Republican, nominated Neil Gorsuch for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed Antonin Scalia, who had died almost one year earlier. Then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Merrick Garland to succeed Scalia on March 16, 2016, but the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate did not vote on the nomination. Majority leader Mitch McConnell declared that as the presidential election cycle had already commenced, it made the appointment of the next justice a political issue to be decided by voters. The Senate Judiciary Committee refused to consider the Garland nomination, thus keeping the vacancy open through the end of Obama's presidency on January 20, 2017.
Trevor Neil McFadden is an American attorney and jurist who serves as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Previously, he was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.
Thomas Alvin Farr is an American attorney. Farr was nominated by President Donald Trump for a judgeship on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2017, and again in 2018. Farr was considered a controversial nominee due to his alleged involvement in suppression of African-American voters. On November 29, 2018, Republican U.S. Senators Jeff Flake and Tim Scott announced their opposition to Farr's nomination, together with unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats, made it impossible for Farr's nomination to be confirmed.
Leonard Steven Grasz is an American lawyer and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Ryan Douglas Nelson is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was previously nominated to become Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior, but was never confirmed.
Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
President Donald Trump entered office with a significant number of judicial vacancies, including a Supreme Court vacancy due to the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. During the first eight months of his presidency, he nominated approximately 50 judges, a significantly higher number than any other recent president had made by that point in his presidency. By June 24, 2020, 200 of his Article III nominees had been confirmed by the United States Senate.
Wendy Baldwin Vitter is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Chad Andrew Readler is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and former Principal Deputy and former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Civil Division.
Daniel Paul Collins is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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