Jerry Nadler

In 1992, Ted Weiss was expected to run for re-election in the 8th district, which had been renumbered from the 17th after the 1990 U.S. Census. However, Weiss died a day before the primary election. Nadler was nominated to replace Weiss. He ran in two elections on Election Day – a special election to serve the rest of Weiss's term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. He won both handily, and has been re-elected 12 times with no substantive opposition, never dropping below 75 percent of the vote in one of the most Democratic districts in the country. The district was renumbered as the 10th district after the 2010 census. A Republican has not represented this district or its predecessors in over a century.[15]

The 10th district includes the west side of Manhattan from the Upper West Side down to Battery Park, including the World Trade Center. It also includes the Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Greenwich Village, as well as parts of Brooklyn such as Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Borough Park and Bay Ridge. It includes many of New York City's most popular tourist attractions, including the Statue of Liberty, New York Stock Exchange, Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park.[16][17]

Nadler with First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009

Nadler giving a press conference with Nydia Velazquez at the 2017 John F. Kennedy International Airport protest

Nadler is the chair of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary and is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure committees.[18]

Despite earlier efforts to impeach George W. Bush[19] and more recent requests from fellow representatives, he did not schedule hearings on impeachments for Bush or Dick Cheney, saying in 2007 that doing so would be pointless and would distract from the presidential election.[20] In an interview in Washington Journal on July 15, 2008, Nadler reiterated the timing argument and endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 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.[21] Ten days later, following upon submission of Articles of Impeachment by Representative Dennis Kucinich, the full House Judiciary Committee held hearings covered solely by C-SPAN regarding the process. A top Ronald Reagan Justice Department official, Bruce Fein, was among those testifying for impeachment.

On a similar note, referring to hypothetical impeachment proceedings against President Trump 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 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 stated.[22]

On September 24, 2019, Representative Lance Gooden proposed a resolution to remove Nadler from his position as chairman of House Judiciary committee, accusing him of unlawfully beginning impeachment proceedings before the House had given the committee authorization.[23][24]

• Committee on the Judiciary (Chairman)
  • As Chairman of the full committee, Nadler may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

• Congressional Arts Caucus[25]
• Congressional Progressive Caucus[26]
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus[27]
• Medicare for All Caucus[28]

Nadler was unhappy with the passage of the surveillance-reform compromise bill, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, saying it "abandons the Constitution's protections and insulates lawless behavior from legal scrutiny".[29]

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.[30]

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.[31][32] Nadler has opposed giving tax breaks to high-income earners, saying that the country cannot afford it.[30]

Nadler also vowed to re-introduce the Freedom of Choice Act during the Obama administration.[33] He has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.[34]

Nadler supports same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

On September 15, 2009, Nadler, along with two other representatives, introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, a proposed bill in the United States Congress that would have repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and required the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages.[35]

In 2019, Nadler supported the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[36]

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."[37]

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.[38]

In December 2017, Nadler criticized President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Nadler stated: "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."[39]

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 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.[40]

In July 2019, Nadler introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act that among other reforms seeks to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.[41] Said Nadler: "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."[42] 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.[43]

Nadler has a liberal voting record in the House. He gained national prominence during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, when he described the process as a "partisan railroad job".[44]

His Medicare proposal includes a section that provides for a consortium of organization to study Ground Zero illness.[45]

According to the National Journal, Nadler is one of seven members of the House of Representatives who tie for most liberal.[46]