Hudson Valley Congressman-elect Named To Judiciary Committee

From the office of Congressman-elect Mondaire Jones

Congressman-elect Mondaire Jones (NY-17) was nominated to serve on the powerful House Judiciary Committee in the 117th Congress, per an announcement from the Speaker’s Office.

“I’m excited to bring my lived experiences to the House Judiciary Committee. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I know how it feels to spend every June waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will undermine my rights. As a Black man in America, the fight for racial justice in policing, and within our broader criminal legal system, is literally a matter of life or death for people like me,” said Jones. “Our democracy is broken, and I’m honored to join members of the House Judiciary Committee in their fight to fix it.”

Jones, an attorney and graduate of Harvard Law School, clerked for a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, worked in private practice for several years, and was a litigator in the Westchester County Law Department. Prior to law school, Jones worked in the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy under President Obama. There, he vetted candidates for federal judgeships and co-authored a report to Attorney General Eric Holder on reducing the recidivism of formerly incarcerated persons in the federal system.

Jones has served on the national board of the NAACP as well as on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“Mondaire Jones, a graduate of Harvard Law School, former Southern District of New York clerk, and practicing attorney, brings an impressive educational and practical legal background to the Committee,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler. “He has also dedicated much of his life to working with marginalized communities and, growing up in Section 8 housing the son of a working single mom, he has seen firsthand how our laws and policies impact families around this country. I look forward to working with him on the Committee and in the New York Delegation this Congress.”

The second oldest standing committee in Congress, the House Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over some of the most urgent issue areas facing our nation, including voting rights, the courts, antitrust, criminal law, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigration. The committee handles all proposed amendments to the Constitution, and sends the greatest number of substantive bills to the House floor each year. Jones will serve with two of his fellow freshman members.

About Mondaire: Mondaire Jones is the 33-year-old Congressman-elect from New York’s 17th District, serving Westchester and Rockland Counties. A product of East Ramapo public schools, Mondaire was raised in Section 8 housing and on food stamps in the Village of Spring Valley by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to provide for their family. He later graduated from Stanford University, worked at the Department of Justice during the Obama Administration, and graduated from Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of the nonprofit Rising Leaders, Inc. and has previously served on the NAACP’s National Board of Directors and on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Most recently, Mondaire worked as a litigator in the Westchester County Law Department. In November, Mondaire was elected by his colleagues to be the Freshman Representative to Leadership in the 117th Congress and in December, he was appointed a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He will make history as the first openly gay, Black member of Congress.