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Senate Judiciary Committee spotlights eight bipartisan law‑enforcement bills during Police Week; quorum prevents votes
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Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee met in a Police Week markup with eight law‑enforcement bills and three nominations on the agenda but adjourned for lack of a quorum before any votes were taken.
The Senate Judiciary Committee met in a Police Week markup that listed three nominations and eight bills intended to support law enforcement, but the meeting ended without recorded votes after the committee failed to reach a quorum.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened by stating, “We have 3 nominations and 8 bills on the agenda. 2 of the listed nominations today, Cole, administrator drug enforcement, and Sarah Alata, to be director of the US Marshals Service are being considered for the first time and under committee rules will be voted on next week. The nomination of Jason Quinones to be U. S. Attorney for the Southern District Of Florida is ready for a vote today, and I look forward to supporting his nomination.”
The bills on the agenda were described by members as bipartisan measures intended to aid recruitment and retention, protect officers from fentanyl exposure, provide equipment and trauma response tools, support families of first responders, and expand mental‑health services for law enforcement. Several bills and programs named during remarks include the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act; the Protect Our Children Reauthorization Act (Internet Crimes Against Children/ICAC task forces); the Strong Communities Act (expanding permissible uses under the COPS program and encouraging officers to live in or near jurisdictions); a Grassley‑Klobuchar bill on protecting first responders from secondary exposure; a retired law enforcement officers continuing service act; a reauthorization of the STOIC peer‑support program; and a bill to improve police critical aid and trauma response equipment.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, speaking about Police Week and the package, said the measures would provide “long overdue benefits to families of officers who've made the ultimate sacrifice” and urged colleagues to support bills addressing firefighter and first‑responder cancers and secondary exposure protections. Senator Josh Hawley was named in committee remarks as the sponsor of the STOIC reauthorization; Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator John Cornyn were among members thanked for work on other measures.
Members repeatedly criticized the Department of Justice's recent termination and reallocation of grants (discussed separately in the meeting). Chairman Grassley said he had written to the department and received a response he would enter into the record: “I'd like to enter their response into the record, and without opposition, I'll do that.”
No roll‑call votes or formal actions were completed. Committee staff announced there was not a quorum and the chair adjourned the meeting. The transcript records that two nominations (identified in the agenda as Cole and Sarah Alata) were being considered for the first time and, under committee rules, would be voted on next week; Jason Quinones, nominee for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, was described in the record as “ready for a vote today,” but no vote was taken before adjournment.
The meeting mixed short statements of support for the bills with procedural debate about committee oversight and nomination procedures. Members asked the committee to proceed quickly after reconvening so bills could move to the Senate floor.
With no votes taken, next steps depend on committee scheduling and whether a quorum is present at a future session.
