Grassley Opens Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting to Consider U.S. Attorneys, Bipartisan Bills to Tackle Crime

Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
Thursday, February 5, 2026

On today's agenda, we have three nominations and seven bills listed.

Four of those bills are listed for the first time, so we'll hold them over for future consideration.

Today, we'll vote on three U.S. Attorney nominees: Thomas Govan for the Middle District of Alabama; Zachary Keller for the Western District of Louisiana; and Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas.

We'll also vote on three bills: S. 2544, the GUARD Act; S. 1809, the Drone Espionage Act; and S. 3023, the Safe Cloud Storage Act.

Turning first to our U.S. Attorney nominees, we have three highly qualified individuals up for a vote today.

Thomas Govan has served as the Assistant Attorney General in Alabama, as well as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama.

He has nearly two decades of high-stakes criminal and civil experience at both the state and federal levels, and Mr. Govan's elite practice has included several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Zachary Keller has extensive trial and litigation experience in both private practice and public service.

Mr. Keller worked with the FTC litigating consumer fraud, and he's held various civil, criminal and appellate roles with the U.S. Attorney's Offices in the Southern District of Florida and the Western District of Louisiana.

Ryan Raybould also has impressive qualifications.

In addition to his time in private practice, he's served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee and the Deputy Chief of White Collar and Public Corruption in the Northern District of Texas.

Mr. Raybould also supported this Committee as Senator Cornyn's Chief Counsel for four years.

I'm confident that all three of these nominees will do a great job, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting them.

Turning to the rest of our agenda, the three bills that we're voting on today are part of a bipartisan effort to tackle crime and protect vulnerable populations.

The GUARD Act is a bipartisan bill led by Senator Britt and Senator Gillibrand.

It equips law enforcement with critical tools they need to protect people, including the elderly, from sophisticated scams and financial frauds.

The Drone Espionage Act is a bipartisan bill led by Senator Moody and Senator Slotkin, and co-sponsored by Senators Lee, Tillis, Cruz, Blackburn and Britt.

It protects critical military installations from unauthorized surveillance.

And the Safe Cloud Storage Act is a bipartisan bill led by Senators Blackburn, Klobuchar, Cornyn and Blumenthal, with Senators Britt, Coons and Lee also co-sponsoring.

It helps those who work alongside law enforcement in the fight against child sexual exploitation.

I want to thank Ranking Member Durbin and his staff for working with me to put together this agenda.

I'd also like to thank the members of this committee for their work on these important, bipartisan bills.

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