and they are great and they looked at that judiciary committee. >> jerry nadler had looked and whetherthey care about me or not armstrong and when we first got everybody together teacher. and they were there with us and went out from the committee and proper procedures and they should. >> so we get to the intelligence committee and hold hearings and i can remember we were second committee prepared to deal hand that important committee a time. and they realize many times during this year because i never felt it was wasteful. it was january 1 and anything before would have been in the house. i know it sounds crazy. and jerry nadler's own words on how we investigate, willing to throw all that away with a bunch of law professors. in saying if you will work in congress and in the next hearings instead of their own investigation and i brought it back several times. and with got nothing out of this. at end of the day they are on both sides and it's what i'm concerned congress may be heading for. if you lose the process. in the potential for majority. and what you can do and you do it. if you

i served on the judiciary committee for some time, all three of us have served on the committee. personally, i reviewed over 1000 judicial nominees in the committee and on the floor. the record is clear. the nominees represent the best of the judiciary, of america. when i became chair of the senate judiciary these vacancies and bringing balance to the court was the highest priority. we face six ordinary challenges. the first two years of the administration coincided with the longest evenly divided senate in history and for the past three years, democrats have held a narrow majority. the biden administration had fewer vacancies to fill day one than the trump administration did in fewer than half. still we succeeded beyond what any hope for. 235 judges confirmed, more than one out of every four judges now serving on the judicial bench were nominated by this president joseph biden. [applause] because of the arcane and challenging rules of the judiciary committee the members had to be sitting in their seats when the roll call was taken for each and every nominee, 235 times. i will gi

the top republican on the house judiciary committee, mr. collins that centered on the first impeachment inquiry into than president donald trump. rep. collins: i thank the chairman, and it is interesting that, again, parliamentary inquiries, some of the things are some of the things we will discuss today, in a different arena. for everyone who has not been here before, this is a new room, new rules, it's a new month. we've even got a cute little stickers for our staff so we can come in, because we want to make this important, because this is impeachment, and we have done such a terrible job of it on this committee before, but what is not new is what has been reiterated by the chairman. what is not new is the facts. what is 90 with the same, sad story. what is interesting, before i get into this in part of my opening segment is what was just said by the chairman. we went back to a rebel of mr. moeller. he also quoted him saying the attention of the american people should be on foreign interference. i agree with him completely. i guess the am

but before we get into the latest justice department judiciary committee-related news, i want to talkbout joe biden. he is leaving office in less than a week. his campaign in 2020 posited that his election might be ready to turn the page of the trump years and reinvigorate american democracy in the way he envisioned. trump is now coming back, so that project seems to have failed. what do you make of biden's legacy under the circumstances? >> first of all, thanks for having me. it's appropriate to be talking about joe biden here at union station, mr. amtrak himself. i barely recognize union station. pretty amazing that we have done it i. biden did put those trump years behind us and he beat donald trump by more than seven million votes, 300-6200 32 in the electoral college. we should never forget that. donald trump beat kamala harris by 3 million votes in this last election, but i think we need to keep some perspective about where america is. it is one of the great things about democracy that we have these pendulum swings and times and of course, anybody who was an incumbent during the

we will cover president-elect robb's pick for attorney general pam bondi before the judiciary committee and the intelligence committee hosts cia nominee john ratcliff. we will have those hearings and others live on c-span now our free mobile video app and later in our schedule. president biden will give his farewell address to the nation tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span. on c-span3 we are waiting for the secretary of state confirmation hearing to get underway. [quiet indiscernible background conversations] >> live coverage from capitol hill expecting the senate foreign relations committee to gaveling in. the top democrat on the committee is jeanne shaheen of new hampshire. there are 20 additional members, including two women, senators tammy duckworth and jacky rosen. a handful of other confirmation hearings are also happening today. we will cover president-elect trump's pick for attorney general, pam bondi, who is appearing before the judiciary committee. the intelligence committee hosts cia nominee john ratcliff. we will host those on c-span now, our free mobile video app, and later i

received what i would call requests or even demands from other senate committees to include the judiciary committee and the house homeland -- i mean, the senate homeland security and government accountability, whatever the title of that committee is, for information related to that. that took place over a course of several months and the process, just so you're clear, was anititive, collaborative process that included the attorney general, the c.i.a. director, the director of the n.s.a., myself as d.n.i., and again, anitierive process that resulted in a highly redacted product to protect sources and methods. but yet to respond to these requests or demands, to put that information out. so i take that that's -- sen. ossoff: that's useful information. my time is running short. we can discuss further in the closed session if we need. to i appreciate you -- mr. ratcliffe: i very much look forward to that. sen. cornyn: mr. ratcliffe, i think i have the distinction of having known you longer than anybody else on this committee. i remember when you were -- mr. ratcliffe: they call that misfortune. sen. cor

>> yeah, i don't know how many committees do it this way, often done in judiciary committee, we havete for one meeting one day and the next day, opponents and proponents of the candidate can come and speak and answer questions. second day is not quite as important as first day, it is tradition of judiciary committee to do that. >> brian: senator, can i marvel at something. you are none years old, sharp as ever, all this energy, how do you do it? >> well, first of all, i'm in office because voters of iowa voted me in by a wide margin, that is how you do it m politically. physically, i used to call it running, now i call it shuffling along. if it hadn't been eight degrees windchill this morning, i was going to get up at 4:00 and go. i woke up and decided it was to cold. i make a habit of getting out every morning. >> brian: that does it, fitness is a way of life. i'll be watching you. good luck pam bondi. we'll be right back. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-infl

it will be my very first hearing as a member of the senate judiciary committee. we've got a lot of great nominees on the hill this week, and they'll be they'll have the opportunity not only to make their case to those on that committee, jake, but they'll have their opportunity to make their case to the american people of why they are best, where they are best suited to move president trump's agenda forward. >> but why would you think somebody who's willing to lie about the election results in pennsylvania is going to restore integrity in the justice department? the way that you are calling for? >> look, jake, i've had very direct conversations with each and every one of these nominees that i've had the opportunity to sit down with. i take my duty as a united states senator seriously. article two, section two mandates that i do. we have an obligation both to the american people and to the president to ask these tough questions. i asked that question very directly, and with each and every nominee, the answers that i have been given with them has satisfied, satisfied

he's he's obviously he's going to be the top democrat on the judiciary committee. but to reinforce your point, he has announced that he is going to support marco rubio, the democrat on that committee. one of the top democrats in the senate, has already announced he's going to be supporting rubio for secretary of state. let us see what happens. it's good to see you, buddy. thank you john. thanks. >> all right. with us now is florida man mark caputo, senior politics reporter at axios. florida's marco rubio has a confirmation hearing today. florida's pam bondi has a confirmation hearing today. is there anyone left in florida? mark? >> there are quite a bit. i guess there's mike waltz. who's the national security advisor? mauricio claver-carone is from orlando. he's going to be at the latin american envoy, kevin cabrera, the miami-dade county commissioner, is going to be the ambassador to panama. >> and there are two other florida men who are going to be and their names escape me, the ambassadors to argentina and there and to spain. >> so lots of florida folks and more

confirmation hearing for kash patel as director of the fbi will be held in the senate judiciary committee. senator sheldon white house asking questions of the nominee who has publicly said he wants to eliminate the intelligence unit in the fbi that investigates terrorist plots and has successfully stopped many of those plots before they were carried out. here what is kash patel said he wants to do with that unit of the fbi and with the rest of the fbi. >> the fbi's footprint has gotten so frickin' big. and the biggest problem the fbi has had has come out of its intel shelves. i'd break that component out. i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> leading off our discussion is democratic senator sheldon white house of rhode island. i've got to ask you about what we just heard there. there's someone saying, i want to make the fbi completely unable to either investigate plots and stop the kind of thing that happened in new orleans, or unable to even respond and investigate after the fact what happened in new orleans. >> well

. >> they will push the anti-immigrant agenda and there are serious flaws before the judiciary committee to the normal process. i personally voted against it. they committed a crime. and it is border security. people accused of crimes and to respond. so we believe in the rule of law. [inaudible] >> to go directly. >> a lot of things and it will continue. will the american public to know donald trump is working publicans that will assure them they will have the potential social security and medicaid bill from their ability to qualify for supplemental attrition. but they are talking about is behind closed doors, you're trying to cut a deal cut a deal to hurt american people and that's what this is about. there was a lot of things and that is the fundamental millionaires and billionaires. back on think the matters price them out of the numbers. >> i didn't have my hand up but i'll take one. [laughter] mehta announced they would do away with this. get your reaction submitted. the concern of the democratic caucus in the information it is clear companies are. and that is the world we live in.

committee. probably won't be judiciary. i don't know. it is a tragic situation. we feel for the families and individuals who have lost their homes, some people have lost loved ones. maria: terrible. >> it's tragic. i do think it underscores some of the policies that are in place in california when it comes to water. i heard former speaker mccarthy talking yesterday about decisions made in california relative to the governor there and other leaders that just made no sense. no common sense on having the resources you need to combat something like this. so that's important i think as we move forward too. that's largely the folks in california are going to have to decide that and who they have in elected positions making those decisions. maria: underlines how important policy is, right. you're dealing with policy, trying to get the policy right and we appreciate your work on it but look how important the right policy is. so we'll be watching that. mr. chairman, good to see you this morning. thanks very much. >> you bet, maria. maria: jim jordan in d.c. stay with us.

she to the house judiciary committee for, the cause of women's rights and women's. and after one of her famous speeches concerning suffrage at the chicago world's fair in may of 1893, the chicago record said this about her, quote mrs. dr. martha hughes. is considered one of the brightest exponents of the women's cause in the united states. pretty high praise her position gave her gave rise to her popularity within utah territory where she became the first female state senator anywhere in the country. and that's an amazing feat. she served to a term there and she used her position for the good of others in the legislature. martha led the effort to establish a state board of health and she introduced bills to establish a school for the deaf and blind. she wasn't when she wasn't in office, she was running her practice and she had a lot going on and as the youngest head surgeon at the newly established hospital, which is an female medical institution, she used her skills, talents and experience to serve others and all grateful that she did. it's to our disappointment th

no. >> you are on the judiciary committee.g to be some hearings coming up and i wonder which ones you find the most alarming, whether they are in your committee or not, the confirmation hearings. you have pam bondi that's coming up. you obviously have a secretary of defense who is a television host from fox who will be replacing a four-star general, and who has some allegations against him from women and also from his former colleagues regarding his use of funds. marco rubio is obviously coming up for secretary of state. we got up on the screen a lot of the people who are coming up. is there one that particularly concerns you? >> well i think the one that is so clearly, patently unqualified is kash patel, the nominee for fbi director. this is someone who is essentially an internet troll who rose to the level of his willingness to debase himself to the president. he has no business running the premier law enforcement agency in the country. he has said he wants to close down fbi headquarters and open up a museum to the deep stat

after serving on the staff of the senate just dish -- senate judiciary committee david went on to becomeional business leader and philanthropist. from advancing cutting edge cancer treatment, to restoring our nations monuments his leadership reminds us that at our best we learn from, preserve, and share our history so that everyone sees themselves in the story of america. [applause] accepting on behalf of george soros is alex soros. [applause] the presidential medal of freedom is awarded to george soares. born to a family in hungary, george soros escaped nazi occupation to build a life for himself and others around the world. educated in england, he settled in america as he became a philanthropist, supporting key pillars of open society. rights and justice, equity and equality, freedom now and in the future. his generosity reminds us all of our capacity and our obligation to stand up to the abuse of power and to be guardians of democracy and all people yearning to be free. [applause] george stevens, jr. [applause] the presidential medal of freedom is awarded to george stevens, jr., born

and someone who i served with on the house judiciary committee, delegate mary louise price. mary, mary louise, nice to see you as well. and you know, we're so grateful that all of you are here. and i also to thank my family for being here. they've been instrumental this. so in the front row here, next to priscilla john's wife, we have my my sister, danielle, my sister jenny lee, and my nephew. thank you all for being here. finally, i want thank john frece john has spent spent years of his life full time researching and my father's life. and it wasn't it wasn't an easy task. my father's life was all over the place. and so john and priscilla, literally all over the world. so they went to ireland and research there. they went up to to new haven, connecticut to go through the library at yale. they went up to my father's prep school at st paul's in concord, new hampshire, an and the work that they put in was absolutely incredible. and john's written a great book, so i really you all enjoy it and on the last year on the campaign trail, even though i'm not in politics, i ran into j

so it never ended up getting out of the house judiciary committee. however, the president has the authority to issue a posthumous pardon just on his say so. so we've gone that route starting in 2016, the end of the second term of president obama. so that's where we are at the present time. you know, president biden was vice president at that time. so he should be familiar with the case. so we're using it as a means to exonerate and clear my dad's name. and as you mentioned, there's abundant legal evidence that the trial itself was a farce. it was a political trial. there was no evidence, et cetera.. so it's a matter of clearing his name and, you know, restoring, you know, not only his name per se, but his activity because he had an organization that had, you know, more than 6 million members worldwide, which is the largest member organization of african people in the diaspora, at least. so he was a significant person in the black community. >> yes, sir. let me get the professor in here. let me get the professor in here. because you said professor han

always answer the question but they'll help they'll help work out because when i worked there on judiciary committee the reports are not secret and we would circulate report for any any bill to every every senator. there were 70 they all had staff on the committee. and they receive a copy of the draft report and they could amend it or change it. and if they didn't like it, they could write a concurrence. we really didn't. or if they really like it, they could write a the senate and they would do in all likelihood what their principal, the senator, wanted them to do or what they if they wanted them to do and if they didn't do that well enough, they have that job very long. so it circulated and very often does help. that's the legislative history which you will learn about, or you might look to the values that underlie this bill, and particularly if its constitution constitute is filled with these values. so what's this about? what it's about, in part, is a democratic society we are going to have and those i read, which is named ginned, you can ask that story good book. he says the most important word

she will testify before the senate judiciary committee across two days, wednesday and thursday. watch next week live on the c-span networks or on c-span now. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to watch live and on-demand anytime. c-span, democracy unfiltered. announcer: the house returns for for speeches with legislativern work later in the afternoon. i number of amtrak and disaster-related measures are on calendar. later in tk the representatives are expected to taother bills including hr 28, the pron of women and in sports act of 2025 and hr 30 preventing violence against women by illegal aliens act. in the senate lawmakers will be considering the lakeney act. it would require the homeland security dept to detain undocume immigrants for theft related crimes the next procedural vote is set for 5:30 p.m. e on monday. watch the house live on c-span and the senate c-span 2. bothvailable live online at c-span.org or with the free c-span now app. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.

after serving our nation on the staff of the senate judiciary committee and in president carter's whiteouse, david wt on to become a transformational business leader and philanthropist. from advancing cutting-edge cancer treatment to restoring our nations monument. his leadership reminds us that at our best we learn from, reserve and share our history so that everyone sees themselves in the story of america. [cheering and applause] >> accepting on behalf of george soros is alex soros. [cheering and applause] the presidential medalpr of freedom is awarded to george soros. worn into a jewish family in hungary, gorge source escape nazi occupation to build a life of freedomnd for himself and countless others around the world. educated in england, he settled in america as he became an investor philanthropist aborting key pillars of open society, rights and justice, equity and equality, freedom now and in the future. his inspiring generosity reminds us allat about our capacity and obligation to stand up to the abuse off power and to be guardians of democracy and all people yearning to be free

they will not come up before the judiciary committee.ersonally voted against it because this would open a path for individuals. even if they are just around someone who committed a crime. that is a concern and it is a concern to a lot of my colleagues. immigration policy and border security. the democratic caucus in the leads and the rule. we also believe in the process. we believe in the fundamental that people accused of crimes have the ability to respond. that does not mean if you are accused of a crime you should be deported. that is a concern. we believe in the rule of law. donald trump is working with house republicans on efforts that will hurt them. on efforts that will have the potential to reduce social security and medicare and medicaid that will harm their ability to qualify for supplemental nutrition. they talked about eliminating head start, the department of education, the list goes on and on and on the they are honing behind closed doors. they do not believe in transparency. they are trying to cut a deal. they are trying t

member of the judiciary committee. why? because that nomination was so important to the future of the country. what what's more important than the man who is going to lead our troops into battle, especially at a moment of great peril to american security and the security of our allies? yes, of course, we should all be able to see that fbi report, and it should be done in a thorough manner. all i'm saying is that i don't know that the fbi report should be determinative. there is already enough really serious and credible allegations and reports of misconduct that i would hope that republicans would be asking the trump administration to send another name, send somebody else that will be in a better moral position to lead our brave men and women. >> well, right now it doesn't seem like they are based on on what we've heard. even the biggest critics of him have seemed to soften on him a bit and so on. that and the kavanaugh comparison. i mean, that is what the trump team has said in their favor, to say that he was unfairly

there's very few people i like to listen to more than you, and especially on the judiciary committee.k in those committees is really -- sometimes, i feel like i'm watching "matlock." the way you walk up there and you just slowly disassemble the logic and all those different things, it is really something to watch, man, and i think we all look forward to seeing those hearings soon. and we really appreciate you taking the time with us this evening, and it is january 7th another milestone for democracy? none of us actually know civics. >> i will tell you one funny story about january 7th. because my kids always say i get really depressing when i talk about the sixth. i have one really funny story which is the next day, i was down in nancy pelosi's office and i was waiting in the little receptionist area and the receptionist picks up the phone and people were calling and saying, you know, i was in your office yesterday, do you guys have a lost and found? because i think i forgot my phone there. i think i forgot my purse there. and so she didn't know what to do. i said, let's get in touch

smoke-filled room, those of you who been up in the senate know where the senate judiciary committee is, the back room now that was the room where the executive sessions were held because they were not public. just the senators, majority staff member and staff member from the full committee and staff person handling whatever legislation was being considered by the committee at the time. which was allowed in the room and it was a tough room. the senator kennedy all liked to smoke cigars. probably why you hear a little rasp in my throat right now. during that market we had hoped the agreement between minority and majority would hold. the subcommittee and the bill would go to the it floor. under time limit without amendments and sail through. that was not to be.senator mcclellan from arkansas proposed an amendment, simple, one-word change. the word records back files. seventh exemption. and i was sitting next to him behind senator kennedy, he had a piece of paper which he read from clearly prepared by the fbi. arguing that they needed that ability to make broad exclusionary decisions when

washington, january 13, the senate judiciary committee approved without objection today president elect john f. kennedys' selection of his brother, robert, as attorney general. the vote came after two-hour hearing. would you like a two-hour hearing? ms. bondi: can we redo this? sen. brett: the vote game after a two-hour hearing devoted to the large part to the praise of mr. kennedy. forecast there would be several critically -- critical questions especially from republicans proved incorrect. all 14 committee members present voted to approve the nomination when it was formally made. "the new york times." as it said, blood is thicker than water. meaning family bonds are stronger than any other relationship. i just think that that needs to be before the american people once again and i appreciate you continuing to reiterate that you will serve the people of this great country and that you will follow the law. ms. bondi: thank you, senator. sen. brett: i'd like to move to something that has become another theme of this hearing. and that is senator grassley's letters. i, myself, sent a lette

you're on the judiciary committee. you know the ropes there. explain to us where this reconciliation package is going because i think that will be a tussle. i think generally republicans want to have it all, right? they don't want to settle for anything less. you have to pick and choose what goes first, what comes later, so how is that going to play out? what do you see happening? >> well, a lot of people don't understand, you only get two whacks at it really. two reconciliation bills. and speaker gingrich just said, well, you should do the easy stuff first, like border. i'm not sure that's where the trump transition team is. we're kind of split in the conference but i think where it's going to go, and i think i'm going to use this phrase, big, beautiful bill, i think it's going to -- because i think it's going to have that border security stuff in it but i think it's going to have some tax policy in that first one and why is that? because i do agree with representative gingrich you have got to get the tax package done as early as possible beca

the senate judiciary committee here, chuck grassley overseeing that. pam bondi has a lot of experience, a lot of senators, even democrats talking about that. i don't think there is a question right now about getting through this committee. there is really little doubt that she is going to get approved. a lot of the questions i think today from the democratic side will deal with loyalty to president trump and how much she is willing to be independent as an attorney general. she spent a lot of time as a state attorney general in florida. 18 years as a prosecutor. she will be overseeing about 6,000 federal prosecutors and this loyalty question and how she will be an attorney general i think is really what democrats are going to get to. but in reality, i don't think that they have any hope of derailing this nomination. much like they aren't seeing that in even other controversial what was considered controversial nominations like pete hegseth yesterday. there is now a consensus on the hill that this is moving forward and the president may get all of his pi

weir joined by the great iowa senator chuck grassley and chair of the judiciary committee. senator grassley, wonderful to see you, sir. happy new year and thought you'd react to this high noon dramatic cat's whisker vote victory for speaker pike johnson. what do you think, sir? >> it's key to getting mandate of the november 5 election, which elected president trump once again to get it on the role. if we had to lose one day and one week, who knows how long it could have take and to come up with somebody else. i'm just glad it's over and it's good news for all the people that voted for trump, even if they don't know who speaker johnson is. larry: actually, if they hadn't got it through, you could have been president by january 20th, president protemporal integration of the senate. no speaker and no certification monday or maybe not even januar. as i understand it, you would have stood in line to become president. >> well, president pro tem job is very important job in the united states senate, but i'm just glad that scenario didn't happen because what it would be is blow eve

she will testify before the senate judiciary committee across two days, today and thursday. thursd, scott beth ssent testifies before the senate finance committee. watch live on the c-span networks or on c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, find it anytime online at c-span.org. videos are key hearings, debates and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos. the timeline tool meets it easy and quickly -- to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now is peter montgomery, research director for people for the american way to talk about what we will see in half an hour from now. hello. a little bit about your group. what is it due and how does it relate to days like today when we are watching these hearings? guest: people for the american way is a pr

in the judiciary committee, it's a thin minority, and we see the majority is within reach . what we are thinking about is, what can we do legislatively to rain these folks in? for the longest time i was a traditionalist on this, and i thought the court has to be independent. they will police themselves. they have shown at every turn with alito and his family and his phone call, clarence thomas and that gives, they are incapable of doing that. it will take congressional supervision. to justice coney barrett, there's a phrase in football when the quarterback throws the ball across the field and the receiver drops it and gets drilled by the linebacker, you might as well catch it because they will hit you anyway. going forward, shown yourself as having the courage to stand up to him. they will hit you on this. we will need that type of courage going forward. for her to not be bullied by trump. he is on her list and that will be evident in the days ahead. >> i was slightly surprised she joined that immunity decision. sort of ad hoc and her questions in oral argument i thought wer

so mark talked about this in a letter he sent to the house judiciary committee a few months ago thatned the way in which we got a lot of pressure around covid, in particular, to take down more content. even things like humor and satire about the pandemic and about vaccines. so, you know, we did experience that kind of pressure. the decisions we made ultimately were our own. but there is a real opportunity here, with president trump coming into office, with his commitment to free expression for us to get back to those values. and really provide space for people to have the kind of discourse and debate they want to have. >> brian: would you do what x did and that sun leash independent journalists like matt taibbi and bari weiss and michael shellenberg forensically go through repressing shielding and sadow banning, would that be a cleansing process? house judiciary committee and congressman jordan the last few years and he put out a really thorough report on the experience that we and other companies have had. honestly, we are pretty focused on the future and the opportunity we have rig

on the judiciary committee, we're in the minority, a thin minority. we can see the majority, you know, is within reach. and what we're thinking about is, like, what can we do legislatively to rein these folks in. i'll be honest. for the longest time, i was a traditionalist on this and i thought the court has to be independent. they're going to police themselves. they have shown at every turn, with alito and his family, alito and his phone call, clarence thomas and all the gifts, that they're incapable of doing that. so it's going to take congressional supervision. but to justice coney barrett i would say this, there's a phrase in football when the quarterback throws the ball across the field and the receiver drops it and then gets drilled by the linebacker. you might as well catch it because they're going to hit you anyway. going forward, you have now shown yourself as having the courage to stand up to him. you have done it. they're going to continue to hit you on this, so we're going to need that type of courage going forward, and for her to not be b

authority for the judiciary committee investigation into attorney general garland's production of dumonts related to hunt -- of documents related to hunter biden to ensure that no one including president biden or his son is above congressional accountability. it also extends the select committee on strategic competition between the u.s. and china communist party to develop policies addressing the c.c.p.'s economic and geopolitical aggression. finally it provides for consideration several measures that represent the opening salvo of house republican's agenda, securing border, energy independence, and protecting life and liberty. i am proud to stand here today to bring forward this rules package and encourage my colleagues to support the resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time is reserved. the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker, happy new year, i want to thank mrs. fischbach for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gen

. >> i've served on the senate judiciary committee for some time. >> as a matter of fact, all three ofus have served on that committee for some time. and i think personally, i probably reviewed over a thousand judicial nominees in the committee and on the floor. >> the record is clear. >> the nominees of president joseph biden to the federal bench represent the best of the judiciary, the best of america. when i became chair of the senate judiciary committee, filling these vacancies and bringing balance to the court was the highest priority. we faced some extraordinary challenges. the first two years of the administration coincided with the longest evenly divided senate in history, and for the past two years, democrats have held only a narrow majority. on top of that, the biden administration had fewer vacancies to fill on day one than the trump administration did. in fact, fewer than half. still, we succeeded beyond what any anyone hoped for. 235 judges confirmed more than one out of every four judges now serving on the judicial bench were nominated by this president, joseph biden. >>

joining me now, democratic congressman from new york and member of the house judiciary committee, dangoldman. welcome, congressman. this is a moment many have been waiting for. arguably, the doj head, the ag, the most consequential member of the cabinet by some estimations, she'll be two days under the microscope for her endeavor to be that person. what question must they ask her? >> well, the thing that always sticks out to me about pam bondi is that when she was florida attorney general, she had an investigation into trump university. then donald trump, through his charity, i believe, which was illegal. i could be wrong about that, but gave her campaign $25,000 and then her investigation went away. and that's the kind of corruption that is disqualifying for an attorney general, especially when you now have donald trump, who has threatened repeatedly to weaponize the department of justice. and her biggest qualification seems to be that, quote you just played, which is that she will prosecute the prosecutors and investigate the investigators. that's all donald trump wants out of his a