The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution holds an oversight hearing on the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's approach to enforcing voting rights laws.
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez testifies at the hearing.
Republicans contend that the Justice Department is partisan in the civil rights cases it chooses to pursue. The Subcommittee will likely question whether the Division hired a Democratic data firm to conduct analysis on the Texas voter identification law and why action on low voter registration rates from military recruiting centers was not taken.
In the past year, the Justice Department Civil Rights Division has filed suits against a number of states for new voting requirements, including Georgia and Wisconsin for absentee voting for overseas citizens and Florida for purging the voter rolls.
For FY2013, the Civil Rights Division has requested a 6.1% increase in its budget and an additional 64 positions, including 34 attorneys.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) chairs the hearing.