The Senate Judiciary Committee convened on Dec. 5, 2025, to welcome newly sworn-in member Senator Adam Schiff and to consider two judicial nominations, both of which the committee voted to send to the full Senate.

Senator Adam Schiff, who the transcript records as joining the committee to complete the remainder of Dianne Feinstein’s term, thanked the committee and said he was "honored to be on the committee" and "thrilled to serve with all of you and look forward to getting to know you better." The presiding officer (unnamed in the transcript) noted the committee has advanced 373 nominees to the full Senate, including 242 judicial nominees, and said this was the committee’s 88th regular meeting.

Ranking Member Lindsey Graham used his opening remarks to press for action on technology and platform accountability, urging colleagues to push the Kids Online Safety Act and saying "it's time to sunset Section 230, I think, and replace it with something that the consumer has a voice" on harms such as online grooming and access to dangerous substances.

An unidentified senator asked the committee to clear a bipartisan bill to extend classwide scheduling for fentanyl analogues for one year, warning that the scheduling could lapse "in days" and citing recent seizures described in the transcript as "over £2,000 of fentanyl pills" in two raids. The presiding officer responded that the committee had already cleared the senator’s bill for inclusion in remaining Senate packages and said he supported immediate action to avoid a lapse.

The committee did not vote on S.2082, "Ensuring Justice for Victims of Terrorism," at the request of the bill’s sponsors, the presiding officer said.

On nominations, the committee first considered Judge Benjamin Cheeks for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. No member sought recognition to speak and, after a roll-call sequence, the presiding officer said the nomination would be favorably reported to the full Senate.

The committee then considered Judge Serena Murillo for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Again, no senator sought recognition. The clerk called the roll and recorded a mix of aye and nay responses; the clerk announced, "on this vote the ayes are 11, the nays are 10." Chair Durbin announced that the nomination will be favorably reported to the floor.

With no further business, the committee adjourned.

What’s next: Both nominations will proceed to the full Senate for consideration; the timetable for floor action was not specified in the transcript.