Through his senior position on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley has advanced legislative reforms to promote law and order, Back the Blue and improve the criminal justice system. He conducts robust oversight of the executive and judicial branches, and takes seriously his constitutional authority of advise and consent. (Courts & The Judiciary)
Congressional authority to conduct investigations stands on equal footing with its legislative authorities, and Grassley works tirelessly to ensure the executive branch is properly enforcing and implementing laws as Congress intended.
Grassley wields his constitutional oversight authority to hold federal agencies accountable to the American people. For decades, Grassley has kept close tabs on the Department of Justice (DOJ) – particularly the FBI – to root out mismanagement and ensure the DOJ doesn’t let a partisan agenda infect its mission as the United States’ premier law enforcement agency.
Known colloquially as the “patron saint of whistleblowers,” Grassley is a co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus and champion of the False Claims Amendment Act, (FCA). The FCA has recouped more than $75 billion to the federal treasury since Grassley in 1986 made bipartisan amendments to the historic law.
?Further Grassley oversight efforts include his work to:
As co-chair of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Senate Drug Caucus), Grassley rolls up his sleeves at the policymaking tables to curb the trafficking, production and use of illegal drugs, beef up enforcement and promote effective treatment and prevention methods.
The drug crisis impacts communities and families across the country. Open border policies empower dangerous drug cartels to grow their criminal networks and push deadly fentanyl into the United States, burdening local law enforcement, criminal justice and public health systems.
Grassley supports federal legislation to crack down on illicit fentanyl, combat money laundering and strengthen tools for local communities to educate youth about the dangers of synthetic opioids. Using his platform on the Senate Drug Caucus, Grassley exposed and demanded an end to lax enforcement measures at the Federal Aviation Administration that enable transnational criminal networks to launder money and use U.S. planes to transport their drugs.
In the late 1990s, Grassley launched a first-of-its-kind statewide initiative to address Iowa's drug problem at the grassroots. Called "Face It Together," or FIT, the effort was designed to help Iowans work together to keep their schools, workplaces and communities drug-free. Grassley strongly supports community anti-drug coalitions and Drug Free Communities grant participants.