Sponsors (45)
The bill centralizes the U.S. Marshals Service under the judicial branch to improve court security, consistency, and certain law‑enforcement functions, but does so at the cost of shifting oversight power to the judiciary, risking coordination and privacy issues and adding administrative costs.
Federal courts, state and local governments, and federal courthouse personnel gain an independent U.S. Marshals Service inside the judicial branch that centralizes responsibility for courthouse protection and judicial security under court oversight.
Law enforcement and federal employees will operate under clearer, uniform supervision (a Board and Director) improving consistency in courthouse security and witness protection practices.
Local governments and families gain an additional resource: the Service is authorized to assist in locating missing children for state and local agencies.
Taxpayers and federal employees face a shift in appointment and removal authority to the judicial branch, concentrating power in the judiciary and reducing executive-branch oversight.
Law enforcement and state/local partners may experience coordination frictions and uncertainty in chain-of-command for cross-jurisdictional operations after operational control moves from DOJ to the judicial branch.
Individuals under investigation (including vulnerable populations) could face expanded government investigatory powers because administrative subpoenas for sex-offender probes may raise privacy and civil‑liberty concerns.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Transfers U.S. Marshals from DOJ to the judicial branch, creates a judicial-branch Marshals Service led by a Chief Justice-appointed Director, and moves marshal appointment authority to the Chief Justice.
Creates a judicial-branch U.S. Marshals Service and moves authority over U.S. Marshals from the Attorney General to the Chief Justice, with a Director appointed by the Chief Justice in consultation with a newly created Board. The bill relocates and redesignates the existing statutory chapter in Title 28, makes marshals judicial-branch officials, establishes Board oversight, and updates several statutes to reflect the new placement and approval roles. The measure preserves DOJ access to marshals for law-enforcement tasks by allowing the Service, at the Attorney General’s request and with the Director’s approval, to assist with fugitive investigations, issue certain administrative subpoenas for investigating unregistered sex offenders, and help locate missing children; it also makes technical conforming edits to related statutes.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Eric Swalwell · Last progress May 23, 2025