The Senate Judiciary Committee heard from Attorney General Eric Holder in a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
The committee questioned Holder on a wide variety of issues including the effects from sequestration for Holder's agency. But lawmakers focused on the CIA drone bombing raids abroad.
Last week, the Attorney General warned that budget cuts mandated through sequestration will have a “profound” effect on the Justice Department. He said that cuts to the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshalls, & U.S. Attorneys will limit the department’s capacity to investigate and solve crimes.
Sequestration, the mandatory across-the-board budget cuts agreed to in the Budget Control Act of 2011, took effect last Friday. This year, the federal government will have to make $85 billion in cuts, split evenly between defense and discretionary spending.
This was his ninth appearance before the Committee as Attorney General.