Government Oversight
To advance its legislative agenda, the Judiciary Committee conducts regular oversight of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among other government agencies. The Committee is also responsible for determining whether to recommend articles of impeachment against federal officials. In 2019, the Committee advanced two articles of impeachment against Donald J. Trump to the House of Representatives.
More on Government Oversight
Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), and House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) sent a letter to Acting Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy seeking answers to over a dozen questions regarding a series of security breaches that occurred at the White House c
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. released the following statement on the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder from the Department of Justice:
"Attorney General Eric Holder has delivered the utmost distinguished service during his tenure in the Obama administration. As the first African American to serve as attorney general, Mr. Holder has shown vigorous dedication to the American people and advancing civil rights for all.
Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee Markup of H.R. 4874, the "Search for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act of 2014." Section 101(K) of the bill funds a new Retrospective Regulatory Review Commission by taking $ 25 million or 1%, whichever is greater, of unobligated funding from federal agencies. Under any methodology this figure would reach into the billions. After voting against H.R. 4874, Ranking Members John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:
The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 302-121 the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), a bipartisan bill authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) that ends bulk collection of data by the government and reforms our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Following the announcement of the AT&T and DirecTV proposed merger, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) issued the following joint statement:
The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 32-0 the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), a bipartisan bill authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) to reform our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including ending the bulk collection of data.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today announced that on Wednesday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee will markup the USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 3361), legislation introduced by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) to reform our nation's intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) and Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) issued the joint statement below following President Obama's proposal to end the bulk telephone data collection program operated under the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) and reform other aspects of our nation's intelligence gathering programs.
Today, media outlets reported that the White House would propose legislation that would allow the NSA to obtain individual phone records only with the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. This morning, the leadership of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence introduced legislation to end bulk collection but allows the government to continue to seize phone records without individualized judicial approval. Although neither proposal goes as far as the USA FREEDOM Act - introduced by Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), John Conyers, Jr.
Today, the House of Representatives debated H.R. 4138 the, "Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enforcements of the Law (ENFORCE) Act." This floor debate comes on the heels of the House Judiciary Committee having held a full committee markup on the legislation and a hearing a week prior entitled, "Enforcing the president's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws." This legislation is a faulty solution in search of imaginary problems, and has no hope of being considered in the Senate, let alone becoming law.