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Jerry Nadler | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Jordan |
| Succeeded by | Jamie Raskin |
| In office December 20, 2017 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | John Conyers |
| Succeeded by | Doug Collins |
| Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Goodlatte |
| Succeeded by | Jim Jordan |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| Assumed office November 3, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Ted Weiss |
| Constituency | 17th district(1992–1993) 8th district(1993–2013) 10th district(2013–2023) 12th district(2023–present) |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly | |
| In office January 1, 1977 – November 3, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Albert H. Blumenthal |
| Succeeded by | Scott Stringer |
| Constituency | 69th district (1977–1982) 67th district (1983–1992) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jerrold Lewis Nadler (1947-06-13)June 13, 1947 (age 77) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) Fordham University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website |
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (/ˈnædlər/; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2023 has served as theU.S. representative forNew York's 12th congressional district, which includes centralManhattan. A member of theDemocratic Party, he was first elected to Congress in 1992 to represent the state's17th congressional district, which was renumbered as the8th district from 1993 to 2013 and as the10th from 2013 to 2023. Nadler chaired theHouse Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023. In his 17th term in Congress, Nadler is the dean of New York's U.S. House delegation. Before his election to Congress, he served eight terms as aNew York state assemblyman.[1]
Nadler was born into aJewish family inBrooklyn, the son of Miriam (née Schreiber) and Emanuel "Max" Nadler.[2][3] Nadler described his father as a "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" who lost his poultry farm inNew Jersey when the younger Nadler was seven.[4] In his youth, he attendedCrown HeightsYeshiva; he is the only member of Congress with a yeshiva education.[5][6] He graduated fromStuyvesant High School in 1965[7] (where his debate team partner was the future philosopher of scienceAlexander Rosenberg, andDick Morris managed his successful campaign for student government president).[8]
Nadler received hisB.A. in 1969 fromColumbia University,[9] where he became a brother ofAlpha Epsilon Pi.[10] After graduating from Columbia, Nadler worked as a legal assistant and clerk, first withCorporation Trust Company in 1970, then the Morris, Levin and Shein law firm in 1971.[11] In 1972, Nadler was a legislative assistant in theNew York State Assembly before becoming shift manager at the New York CityOff-Track Betting Corporation, a position he held until becoming a law clerk with Morgan, Finnegan, Pine, Foley and Lee in 1976.[11]
While attending evening courses at theFordham University School of Law, Nadler was elected to theNew York State Assembly in 1976. He completed hisJ.D. at Fordham in 1978.[4]
Nadler was a member of theNew York State Assembly from 1977 to 1992, sitting in the182nd,183rd,184th,185th,186th,187th,188th and189th New York State Legislatures.
In 1985, Nadler ran forManhattan Borough President. He lost the Democratic primary toDavid Dinkins.[12] In the general election, he ran as theNew York Liberal Party nominee, and again lost to Dinkins.[13]
In 1989, he ran forNew York City Comptroller, but lost toKings County D.A. and former U.S. representativeElizabeth Holtzman in the Democratic primary.
Nadler founded and chaired the Assembly Subcommittee on Mass Transit and Rail Freight.
In 1992, Democratic representativeTed Weiss was expected to run for reelection in the 8th district, which had been renumbered from the 17th after the1990 U.S. Census. However, Weiss died a day before theprimary election, and Nadler was nominated to replace Weiss. He ran in two elections on Election Day– a special election to serve the rest of Weiss's eighth term in the old 17th district, and a regular election for a full two-year term in the new 8th district. He won both handily, and has been reelected 15 times with very little opposition. In 2020, Nadler faced a primary challenge from activist Lindsey Boylan; the election was the first time in his tenure that Nadler received less than 75% of the vote.[14] The district was renumbered the 10th district after the 2010 Census. ARepublican has not represented this district or its predecessors in over a century.[15]
From 2013 to 2023, Nadler's 10th district included Manhattan's west side from theUpper West Side down toBattery Park, including theWorld Trade Center; the Manhattan neighborhoods ofChelsea,Hell's Kitchen andGreenwich Village; and parts of Brooklyn, such asConey Island,Bensonhurst,Borough Park, andBay Ridge. It includes many of New York City's most popular tourist attractions, including theStatue of Liberty,New York Stock Exchange,Brooklyn Bridge andCentral Park.[16][17]
In 2022, Nadler defeated his longtime House colleagueCarolyn Maloney in a three-way Democratic primary with 56% of the vote after he and Maloney were both drawn into thenewly-drawn 12th district duringredistricting.[18]
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Nadler is the ranking member of theHouse Committee on the Judiciary, and is a member of theTransportation and Infrastructure committees.[19]
Despite earlierefforts to impeach George W. Bush[20] and more recent requests from fellow representatives, he did not schedule hearings onimpeachments for Bush orDick Cheney, saying in 2007 that doing so would be pointless and would distract from the presidential election.[21] In an interview inWashington Journal on July 15, 2008, Nadler reiterated the timing argument and endorsedBarack Obama in the2008 presidential election, saying that electing an honest candidate would create a greater chance of prosecuting those in the Bush administration who had committed war crimes.[22] Ten days later, after RepresentativeDennis Kucinich submittedarticles of impeachment, the full House Judiciary Committee held hearings regarding the process covered solely byC-SPAN.[citation needed] A topRonald Reagan Justice Department official,Bruce Fein, was among those testifying for impeachment.
On a similar note, referring to hypothetical impeachment proceedings against PresidentTrump that would begin in the newly elected Democrat-controlled House, he suggested a "three-pronged test" that "would make for a legitimate impeachment proceeding". Such a test would include "the offenses in question must be so grave", and "the evidence so clear", that "even some supporters of the president concede that impeachment is necessary". If it was determined that the president committed an impeachable offense, lawmakers must consider if such an offense would "rise to the gravity where it's worth putting the country through the trauma of an impeachment proceeding," Nadler said.[23]
On September 24, 2019, RepresentativeLance Gooden proposed a resolution to remove Nadler from his position as chair of the House Judiciary committee, accusing him of unlawfully beginning impeachment proceedings before the House had given the committee authorization.[24][25]
Nadler served as animpeachment manager (prosecutor) during thefirst impeachment trial of President Trump.[26]
For his tenure as chair of the House Judiciary Committee in the 116th Congress, Nadler earned an "A" grade from the non-partisanLugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index.[27]
PolitiFact criticized Nadler for incorrectly claiming following theKenosha unrest shooting thatKyle Rittenhouse had taken a gun across state lines and might thus be subject to a federalDepartment of Justice review, when in fact he had not.[28]
Nadler is a member of the Vote Blue Coalition, a progressive group andfederal PAC created to support Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania through voter outreach and mobilization efforts.[29]
Nadler was unhappy with the passage of the surveillance-reform compromise bill, theFISA Amendments Act of 2008, saying it "abandons the Constitution's protections and insulates lawless behavior from legal scrutiny".[39]
Nadler compared Obama's acceptance of Republican demands to extend Bush-era tax cuts at the highest income levels to someone's being roughed up by the mob, asserting that the Republicans would allow the middle class tax cut only if millionaires and billionaires receive a long-term tax cut as well.[40]
Nadler has proposed changing the income tax brackets to reflect different regions and their costs of living, which would have lowered the tax rate for New Yorkers.[41][42] He has opposed tax breaks for high-income earners, saying that the country cannot afford it.[40]
Nadler has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.[43]
Nadler sponsored theFreedom of Choice Act in 2004[44] and 2007.[45] In 2009, he said he might soon re-introduce the bill.[clarification needed][46]
Nadler supportssame-sex marriage, andanti-discrimination protections on the basis ofsexual orientation andgender identity.
On September 15, 2009, Nadler and two other representatives introduced theRespect for Marriage Act, a proposed bill that would have repealed theDefense of Marriage Act and required the federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages.[47]
In 2019, Nadler supported theEquality Act, a bill that would expand the federalCivil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[48]
In March 2019, as the House debated President Trump's veto of a measure unwinding his declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, Nadler said: "I'm convinced that the president's actions are unlawful and deeply irresponsible. A core foundation of our system of government and of democracies across the world, going back hundreds of years, is that the executive cannot unilaterally spend taxpayer money without the legislature's consent."[49]
In 2015, Nadler voted to support an agreement to lift economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran's compliance with the terms of the agreement which called for substantial dismantling and scaling back of their nuclear program.[50]
Of Trump's decision torecognize Jerusalem as the capital ofIsrael in December 2017, Nadler said, "I have long recognized Jerusalem as the historic capital of Israel, and have called for the eventual relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, the seat of the Israeli government. While President Trump's announcement earlier today rightly acknowledged the unique attachment of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, the timing and circumstances surrounding this decision are deeply worrying."[51]
In 2020, Nadler praised a judge for a ruling that could lead to the removal of 20 or more stories in an already-constructed 52-story luxury high-rise building in the Upper West Side of New York City. The developer had received a permit to construct the building, but the judge said the permit should not have been given.[52]
In April 2023, Nadler was one of the 95 co-sponsors of H.Res.319, which calls for the creation of aGreen New Deal.[53][54]
Nadler introduced theMarijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in July 2019 tolegalize cannabis at the federal level by removing it from theControlled Substances Act.[55] He said: "It's past time to right this wrong nationwide and work to view marijuana use as an issue of personal choice and public health, not criminal behavior."[56] In November 2019, the bill passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 24–10 vote, marking the first time that a bill to end cannabis prohibition had ever passed a congressional committee.[57] In April 2022, it passed the full House of Representatives by a 228–164 vote.[58]
Nadler was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of theFiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[59]
On July 7, 2024, it was reported that Nadler had expressed interest in Biden dropping out. This was during a call thatHakeem Jeffries held with the committee leaders.[60]
But on July 9, 2024, after a huddle with all the Democrats, Nadler said "he is 'enthusiastically' supporting Biden."[61]
Nadler has had aliberal voting record in the House. He gained national prominence during theimpeachment of Bill Clinton, when he described the process as a "partisan railroad job".[62]
His Medicare proposal includes a section that provides for a consortium of organization to studyGround Zero illness.[63]
Nadler and Josephine Langsdorr "Joyce" Miller wed in 1976.[64] As of 2013, they lived inLincoln Square.[65]
In 2002 and 2003, Nadler hadlaparoscopicduodenal switch surgery, helping him lose more than 100 pounds (45 kg).[66][67][68]
| New York State Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theNew York State Assembly from the 69th district 1977–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theNew York State Assembly from the 67th district 1983–1992 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 17th congressional district 1992–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 8th congressional district 1993–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 10th congressional district 2013–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Judiciary Committee 2017–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 12th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee 2019–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Judiciary Committee 2023–2025 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 10th | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
