Constitution
The Committee on the Judiciary plays an important role in protecting people's constitutional rights and-when the Constitution falls short of its promise "to form a more perfect Union"-in amending the Constitution. In the 116th Congress, the Committee passed a resolution to revoke the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and held hearings on state efforts to curb people's constitutional right to an abortion, the lasting negative impact of Citizens United on our campaign finance system, the constitutional role of the pardon power, and opportunities to reform presidential clemency. The Committee also filed several lawsuits to uphold its constitutional authority to conduct oversight of the executive branch. In the 117th Congress, the Committee will continue to build on these accomplishments and further the Constitution's promise of a more perfect Union.
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Today, Democratic Members of the House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conducted an interview with Christopher Wylie, a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower who revealed that the firm-which the Trump Campaign used to target voters in the 2016 Presidential election-acquired and misused the personal information of millions of U.S. Facebook users. Following the interview, Democratic Members issued the following statement: |
Today, House Judiciary Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), held a joint press conference to introduce the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, a companion bill to the bipartisan Senate legislation which would limit President Trump's ability to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller and interfere in the Russian election meddling investigation. Below are Ranking Member Nadler's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 2, which proposes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Specifically, the bill prohibits total outlays from exceeding total receipts for each fiscal year unless a three-fifths supermajority of the total membership of each House of Congress votes to override the prohibition. The bill also requires a three-fifths supermajority of each Chamber in order to raise the federal debt limit.
There are only two conclusions one can reach about this legislation:
Today we are considering four classification bills. These are noncontroversial and bipartisan bills and I hope that we can move through them quickly. To that end, I am incorporating my comments on all four bills into this single statement.
H.R. 5283, H.R. 5293, H.R. 5335, and H.R. 5344 -- make a series of long-overdue technical amendments to the United States Code. They are the product of a meticulous review conducted by the Office of Law Revision Counsel, which is responsible for maintaining and publishing the Code.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement after the Department of Justice Inspector General announced he is opening an investigation into potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after Judge Peter J. Messitte's ruling on D.C. and Maryland v. Trump in the District of Maryland. Judge Messitte's ruling today allows the case to proceed, but narrows the scope to violations of the Constitution's Emoluments Clauses related to Trump International Hotel.
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement on the Trump Administration's decision to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census:
Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep.