Senate Judiciary Committee Has 2 Black Members For First Time In Its History

For the first time in its 200-year his­to­ry, the Senate Judiciary Committee has two black com­mit­tee mem­bers after Democrats appoint­ed Sen. Kamala Harris (D‑Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D‑N.J.) to the influ­en­tial panel.

The dual appoint­ment, announced on Tuesday, came as some­what of a sur­prise. Democrats need­ed to fill two spots on the com­mit­tee, fol­low­ing the res­ig­na­tion of Sen. Al Franken (D‑Minn.) and the vic­to­ry of Doug Jones in Alabama’s spe­cial Senate elec­tion last month.

The Congressional Black Caucus had been push­ing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑N.Y.) to appoint one of its mem­bers, and Harris, for­mer attor­ney gen­er­al of California, had been expect­ed to take one of the seats, accord­ing to The Associated Press. In the end, how­ev­er, Schumer chose both African-American Democratic sen­a­tors for the panel.

“The Congressional Black Caucus could not be more proud of both of our Senate mem­bers and know the expe­ri­ence and exper­tise they bring to the Committee will be ben­e­fi­cial for all Americans, spe­cial­ly those dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly tar­get­ed by the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem,” Rep. Cedric Richmond (D‑La.), the cau­cus chair­man, said in a Tuesday state­ment.

Only one oth­er African-American law­mak­er has served on Judiciary Committee since its found­ing in 1816. Then-Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D‑Ill.) was a mem­ber of the com­mit­tee in the 1990s.

Booker, the first black man to serve on the Judiciary Committee, vowed in a tweet to use his new role to “check awful actions” by President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and to “keep work­ing to advance the cause of reform­ing our bro­ken jus­tice system. ”

Last year, Booker tes­ti­fied against Sessions’ Cabinet nom­i­na­tion. It was the first time a sit­ting sen­a­tor had tes­ti­fied against a fel­low sen­a­tor cho­sen for a Cabinet posi­tion.  

Harris said in a tweet that she was “thrilled” about the com­mit­tee appointment.

“I will fight for jus­tice on behalf of Californians and all Americans,” she wrote.

The Judiciary Committee, one of the Senate’s orig­i­nal stand­ing com­mit­tees, vets nom­i­na­tions to the Justice Department and has juris­dic­tion over crim­i­nal jus­tice leg­is­la­tion. The pan­el has been described as one of the most influ­en­tial com­mit­tees in Congress and is one of sev­er­al com­mit­tees inves­ti­gat­ing Russia’s inter­fer­ence in the 2016 pres­i­den­tial election.

With the new appoint­ments, the Republican advan­tage on the com­mit­tee nar­rows to one seat. There are 11 major­i­ty mem­bers on the com­mit­tee and 10 minor­i­ty mem­bers. https://​www​.huff​in​g​ton​post​.com/​e​n​t​r​y​/​j​u​d​i​c​i​a​r​y​-​c​o​m​m​i​t​t​e​e​-​c​o​r​y​-​b​o​o​k​e​r​-​k​a​m​a​l​a​-​h​a​r​r​i​s​_​u​s​_​5​a​5​5​c​f​f​8​e​4​b​0​b​1​1​7​f​8​8​0​9​0​e​3​?​n​c​i​d​=​i​n​b​l​n​k​u​s​h​p​m​g​0​0​0​0​0​009