The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. It is charged with overseeing the

administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. The phrase is also commonly used to d ...

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. In the 117th Congress, the chairman of the committee is

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Jerry Nadler Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...

of New York, and the ranking minority member is

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician currently serving in his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he is a two-ti ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

History

The committee was created on June 3, 1813 for the purpose of considering legislation related to the

judicial system The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. This committee approved articles of impeachment against Presidents in five instances: Andrew Johnson (1867 and 1868),

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

(1974),

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

(1998), and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

(2019/2021). In the

115th Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...

, the chairman of the committee was

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing for 13 terms. A Republican, he was also the Chair of the House Judiciar ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and the ranking minority member was initially

John Conyers of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. On November 26, 2017, Conyers stepped down from his position as ranking member, while he faced an ethics investigation. On November 28, 2017,

Jerrold Nadler Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...

of New York was named as acting ranking member. In the

116th Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Janua ...

, the House flipped from Republican to Democratic control. Doug Collins, a Republican from

Georgia's 9th congressional district Georgia's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in the north of the U.S. state of Georgia. The district is represented by Republican Andrew Clyde, who succeeded fellow Republican Doug Collins. The district is mostly rural an ...

, became ranking member and served from 2019 to 2020. In early 2020, Collins stepped down from his leadership position when he became a candidate in the 2020 special election held to replace retiring Georgia Senator

Johnny Isakson John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2005 to 2019 as a member of the Republican Party. He represented in the United States ...

. Under House Republican rules, members must relinquish leadership positions if they launch a bid for another office. Collins was succeeded as ranking member by

, who represents

Ohio's 4th congressional district Ohio's 4th congressional district spans sections of the central part of the state. It is currently represented by Republican Jim Jordan, the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who has represented the district since 2007. Areas repr ...

Predecessor committees

Claims Claim may refer to: * Claim (legal) * Claim of Right Act 1689 * Claims-based identity * Claim (philosophy) * Land claim * A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law * Patent claim * The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton * A righ ...

: Functions merged in 1946 * Immigration and Naturalization: Functions merged in 1946 *

Internal Security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal secu ...

: Functions merged in 1975 ** Un-American Activities: Functions merged into

in 1969 * Patents: Functions merged in 1946 * Revision of Laws: Functions merged in 1946 * War Claims: Functions merged in 1946

Members, 117th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R)

Subcommittees

List of chairs

Historical membership rosters

116th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (R), (R) ;Subcommittees

115th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (D), (R) and (D)

114th Congress

Sources: * Resolutions electing Republican members: (Chairs) and (R) * Resolutions electing Democratic members: (D) and (D)

112th Congress

Sources: * Resolutions electing Republican members: (Chair), (Members) * Resolutions electing Democratic members (Ranking member), (Members)

111th Congress

Task forces

Antitrust Task Force: 108th Congress

Chairman: Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI); Ranking member: John Conyers (D-MI) The Antitrust Task Force during the 108th Congress existed from March 26, 2003, to September 26, 2003. All Judiciary Committee Members also served as members of the Task Force, and conducted hearings and investigations into consolidation of the

Bell Telephone The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundre ...

Companies.

Antitrust Task Force: 110th Congress

Chairman: John Conyers (D-MI); Ranking member:

Steve Chabot Steven Joseph Chabot ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who has been the United States representative for since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the district from 1995 to 2009. In 20 ...

(R-OH) The Antitrust Task Force during the 110th Congress was established February 28, 2007, as a temporary subcommittee to examine the pending merger between

XM Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

and

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially lau ...

. The task force operated like any other subcommittee, except that it only has a six-month term. House Rules limit each full committee to just five subcommittees, and any task force, special subcommittee, or other subunit of a standing committee that is established for a cumulative period longer than six months in a Congress counts against that total.Rules of the House of Representatives
Rule X(b)(C), Page 12 A longer term for the task force would cause the Judiciary Committee to exceed this limit.

Judicial Impeachment: 110th and 111th Congresses

Chairman:

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...

(D-CA); Ranking member:

(R-VA) Established in September 2008, the Judicial Task force on Judicial Impeachment was to look into charges against District Judge

Thomas Porteous Gabriel Thomas Porteous Jr. (December 15, 1946 – November 14, 2021) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He served for sixteen years before being impeached and removed ...

. The investigation was not completed by the end of the 110th Congress, and it was reestablished after the 111th Congress convened in January 2009. The responsibilities of the Task Force were expanded to include the case of Judge Samuel B. Kent, leading to hearings and his subsequent impeachment by the full House of Representatives. The Task force finally voted to impeach Porteous on January 21, 2010.

Projects

Administrative Law, Process and Procedure Project The Administrative Law, Process and Procedure Project (the Project) is a bipartisan undertaking of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, House of Representative ...

(2005–2006)

Hearings

* The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials (hearing) (2007)
Equal Justice for Our Military Act of 2009, HR 569 (111th Congress) (2009)
Congress holds a hearing to consider granting members of the

U.S. Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

access to the Supreme Court of the United States.

References

External links

Committee on the Judiciary websiteArchive

House Judiciary Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.

including lists of past memberships

{{United States congressional committees

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

Law of the United States 1813 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1813 Parliamentary committees on Justice