United States House Committee on the Judiciary

History

The committee was created on June 3, 1813, for the purpose of considering legislation related to the judicial system. This committee approved impeachment resolutions/articles of impeachment against presidents in four instances: against Andrew Johnson (in 1867), Richard Nixon (in 1974), Bill Clinton (in 1998), and Donald Trump (in 2019).

In the 115th Congress, the chair of the committee was Republican Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, and the ranking minority member was initially Democrat John Conyers of Michigan. 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 of New York was named as acting ranking member.

In the 116th Congress, the House flipped from Republican to Democratic control. Doug Collins, a Republican from Georgia's 9th congressional district, 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 U.S. senator Johnny Isakson. Under House Republican rules, members must relinquish leadership positions if they launch a bid for another office. Collins was succeeded as ranking member by Jordan, who represents Ohio's 4th congressional district, but who has never taken a bar examination or practiced law.

Predecessor committees

• Claims: Functions merged in 1946
• Immigration and Naturalization: Functions merged in 1946
• Internal Security: Functions merged in 1975
  • Un-American Activities: Functions merged into Internal Security in 1969
• Patents: Functions merged in 1946
• Revision of Laws: Functions merged in 1946
• War Claims: Functions merged in 1946

Members, 119th Congress

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

Subcommittees

Committee leadership

Historical membership rosters

118th Congress

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

;Subcommittees

117th Congress

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

;Subcommittees

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

Chair: 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 Companies.

Antitrust Task Force: 110th Congress

Chair: John Conyers (D-MI); Ranking member: Steve Chabot (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 and Sirius Satellite Radio. 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. A longer term for the task force would cause the Judiciary Committee to exceed this limit.

Judicial Impeachment: 110th and 111th Congresses

Chair: Adam Schiff (D-CA) Ranking member: Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Established in September 2008, the Judicial Task force on Judicial Impeachment was to look into charges against district judge Thomas Porteous. The investigation was not completed by the end of the 110th Congress, and it was reestablished after the 111th Congress convened in January 2009.{{cite web |access-date=June 27, 2009 |author-link=John Conyers |access-date=June 27, 2009 |author-link=John Conyers |access-date = June 27, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090621075620/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6488310.html |archive-date = June 21, 2009 |url-status = live

Projects

• Administrative Law, Process and Procedure Project (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 access to the Supreme Court of the United States.

References

References

1. "The Creation of the Judiciary Committee | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives".
2. Wilkinson, Tracy. (November 26, 2017). "Rep. John Conyers quits House committee post amid sexual harassment probe". [[Los Angeles Times]].
3. (2020-02-06). "House Republicans move Jordan to Judiciary, Meadows to Oversight".
4. (January 14, 2025). "Rep. Becca Balint Returns to Powerful House Judiciary Committee as Newly Elected Vice Ranking Member {{!}} U.S. Representative Becca Balint".
5. (December 30, 2024). "Chairman Jordan Announces Judiciary Subcommittee Leadership".
6. (January 15, 2025). "Nadler Announces Judiciary Committee Democratic Subcommittee Members".
7. (2023-01-27). "Chairman Jim Jordan Announces Judiciary Subcommittee Leadership".
8. (2023-01-31). "Nadler Announces Judiciary Committee Democratic Subcommittee Members".
9. [https://judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3519 Chairman Nadler Welcomes New Democratic Members and Announces Democratic Subcommittee Assignments for 117th Congress]
10. [https://republicans-judiciary.house.gov/press-release/ranking-member-jordan-announces-republican-subcommittee-assignments-for-117th-congress/ Ranking Member Jordan Announces Republican Subcommittee Assignments for 117th Congress]
11. "Collins Announces Ranking Members for House Judiciary Subcommittees".
12. Bachus news release Dec. 19
13. "Judiciary Task Force on Antitrust".
14. [http://www.antitrustreview.com/archives/864 House Antitrust Task Force], [http://www.antitrustreview.com/ Antitrust Review.com]
15. [http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=770 Anti-Trust Panel to Examine XM-Sirius Merger] United States House Committee on the Judiciary Press Release, February 27, 2007
16. [http://rules.house.gov/ruleprec/110th.pdf Rules of the House of Representatives] {{Webarchive. link. (February 28, 2007 , Rule X(b)(C), Page 12)
17. (October 2, 2008). "House Judiciary Committee Announces Retention of Alan Baron to Lead Inquiry into Possible Impeachment of Judge Porteous". U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary.
18. (September 18, 2008). "House panel moves toward impeaching a judge".
19. (June 3, 2009). "Victims allege years of sexual misconduct by federal judge". CNN.