Sponsors (5)
Moves the U.S. Marshals Service into the judicial branch under a Chief Justice‑appointed Director, changes marshal appointments to Chief Justice appointments, and requires Director approval for many DOJ requests.
Official title: Amend title 28, United States Code, to transfer the United States Marshals Service to the judicial branch, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 22, 2025 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress May 22, 2025
The bill centralizes U.S. Marshals Service authority under a new judicially-linked governance structure to better protect courts and increase accountability, at the cost of reduced DOJ operational flexibility, potential delays in urgent law-enforcement actions, risks of politicized appointments, and added administrative expense.
Federal judges, court personnel, jurors, witnesses, and other threatened persons gain explicit U.S. Marshals Service authority for personal protection and to counter intimidation, improving courtroom safety and the integrity of the judicial process.
The bill creates a clearer governance structure for the U.S. Marshals Service—establishing a Director, supervisory Board, and standardized four-year marshal appointments with holdover rules—providing more predictable leadership, coordination, and accountability across districts.
By requiring an Attorney General request and Director approval for DOJ-directed USMS actions, the bill preserves judicial-branch control over assistance to courts and limits unilateral Executive-branch direction of marshals.
Shifting operational control of the U.S. Marshals Service toward the judiciary may reduce DOJ flexibility to deploy marshals rapidly for law-enforcement or national-security missions, potentially weakening timely responses.
Requiring Director approval for DOJ requests risks delaying time-sensitive investigations and emergency operations (e.g., fugitive apprehensions, missing-child searches), which could harm victims and public safety.
Centralizing appointment authority (Chief Justice involvement in selecting the Director and marshals) concentrates selection power in the judiciary, which could politicize appointments or reduce ordinary democratic checks on leadership choices.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Transfers and reorganizes the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) from Department of Justice authority into a new judicial-branch bureau led by a Director appointed by the Chief Justice and overseen by a newly created supervisory Board. It changes appointment rules so district marshals are appointed by the Chief Justice for four-year terms (with holdover until successors), limits direct Department of Justice control over USMS actions by requiring Attorney General requests plus Director approval for many forms of assistance, and makes related statutory edits and cross‑references.