Press Releases

Dear Democratic Colleague:

I write to seek your support to continue serving as Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee in the 119th Congress. At a time when the very fabric of our democracy is threatened by the incoming Administration and their allies in Congress, my Democratic colleagues on the Committee and I pledge to stand as a bulwark against the MAGA Majority's dangerous agenda.

As a New Yorker, I have stood up to Donald Trump my entire career. Prior to his entering politics, I worked to prevent him from abusing taxpayer dollars to line his own pockets. When he became President, I led the Judiciary Committee's efforts to hold him accountable for his various abuses of power, culminating in two historic impeachments. I understand his playbook. I am well prepared to help thwart his plans to be a "Dictator on Day One."

As Ranking Member, I will continue to fight for our party's values to ensure that we protect our most vulnerable communities and our most precious democratic ideals. When I served as Chair, I was proud to bring landmark legislation to the House Floor on a wide range of key priorities, such as legislation to enhance gun background checks, provide for extreme risk protection orders, ban assault weapons, and crack down on ghost guns. We also passed key civil rights legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Equality Act, and legislation to provide for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. We passed several bills to enhance public safety and reduce crime, while also passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to ensure that law enforcement is held accountable. And we worked to strengthen our immigration system with legislation including the American Dream and Promise Act, the NO BAN Act, and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Among the legislation that was signed into law included the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act— the first significant gun safety legislation enacted in a generation- reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, legislation to ban the use of mandatory arbitration in sexual assault and discrimination cases, and the Respect for Marriage Act.

Although the Republican Majority will have very different priorities, we have a vital role to play, even from the minority, in fighting for Democratic values and curbing the excesses of President Trump and his cronies in the House.

I am committed to working with my Democratic colleagues on such important issues as working to find bipartisan solutions to our broken immigration system; responding to the epidemic of gun violence with sensible gun safety measures; strengthening the regulatory process that helps ensure that we have clean air and clean water; protecting and strengthening the fundamental right to vote; addressing the disastrous consequences for women's reproductive freedom and health after the Dobbs decision; building on the recent successes of bipartisan criminal justice reform to end mass incarceration and promote fairness in the criminal justice system; enhancing public safety by investing in law enforcement while ensuring accountability for those who abuse the public trust; addressing the ethics crisis at the Supreme Court and promoting transparency in our courts; and strengthening our antitrust laws to preserve and promote healthy competition in the marketplace.

I will also continue to stand up to the Republicans' unfounded and overreaching so-called "investigations". Over the course of the 118th Congress, despite their single-minded focus on attacking the Biden Administration, Republicans utterly failed in their efforts to impeach the President or prove their inane theories about "weaponization". Judiciary Committee Democrats stopped them at every turn. As a consequence, their efforts were largely ignored by the press and the American public. While Republicans can be expected to abandon their commitment to oversight once the Trump Administration takes office, I will work to hold the Administration accountable.

Although we differ on a great many things, where possible I hope to find bipartisan agreement with Chairman Jordan on legislation that would serve the American people. For example, I joined the Chairman in pursuing bipartisan surveillance reform legislation, and we worked together to examine the potential impact of artificial intelligence on America's creative community.

Throughout my tenure as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, I have worked hard to ensure that the Committee is responsive to the needs of the Caucus and that it empowers our Members to take an important role in shaping our agenda and being a leading voice on the issues we confront. I look forward to working with each of you, and I appreciate your consideration.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Jerrold Nadler
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Member of Congress