The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced criminal justice reforms for the second consecutive Congress–this time, with the executive branch kicking and screaming.
The panel marked up legislation in a 16-5 vote the day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly criticized the proposal, which would enhance re-entry programs and reduce some mandatory minimum sentences with retroactive effect.
On Wednesday, Sessions sent a letter to Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) outlining his opposition. In 2015, when the bill first cleared the committee, then-Sen. Sessions (R-Ala.) was one of five lawmakers to vote “no.”
At the committee meeting, Grassley fumed at the Attorney General for his lobbying efforts.
“He’s now Attorney General and is charged with executing the laws Congress passes, not interfering with the legislative process,” the chair said.
“If Gen. Sessions wanted to be involved in marking up this legislation, maybe he should have quit his job, as was talked about last November,” Grassley added.
Grassley was referring to unfounded rumors about Sessions considering leaving the Justice Department to challenge Roy Moore, the disgraced Republican nominee who squandered a seat for the GOP in deep-red Alabama.
The committee chair then noted he had heard “this morning” that the Office of Management and Budget might have been involved in Sessions’ letter.
“If they’re involved in this letter, that also irritates me,” Grassley said. White House veto threats typically come through OMB—through Statements of Administration Policy.
Some Republican members of the committee said that they support criminal justice reforms in principle, but they’re concerned that the legislation will end up going nowhere after the mark-up—as it did three years ago.
Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been an opponent of reform, many members of his caucus support the efforts. The legislation advanced on Thursday has 21-cosponsors—ten of them are Republicans.
