In 2025 Kansas Senator Roger Marshall voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Their Justice Department dropped its lawsuits over police abuses in Louisville and Minneapolis, ending federal oversight of the Minneapolis police, decided not to open a criminal civil rights investigation after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota, and through the Bureau of Prisons delayed First Step Act transfers to halfway houses in most cases auditors reviewed. In August 2026 Marshall cast the deciding vote to confirm Blanche as attorney general.
On June 4 and 5, 2026, Marshall voted six times against barring or limiting payouts from the Justice Department's planned Anti-Weaponization Fund, including a motion that failed 49 to 50, so his vote alone would have adopted it; Trump would not rule out using the fund to pay people who attacked Capitol police. He also cast one of the 50 votes for the 2025 law whose Medicaid work requirement exempts people leaving jail or prison for only three months.
Roger Marshall's Votes and Confirmations on Police Accountability, Prisons and Reentry
- Marshall Voted to Confirm the Officials Who Dropped the Police Abuse Cases in Louisville and Minneapolis. Roger Marshall voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights on April 3, 2025, when Dhillon was confirmed 52 to 45 with no Democratic votes. On May 21, 2025, Dhillon's division announced it was dismissing lawsuits against the Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota police departments and moved to retract the Biden administration's findings of constitutional violations at departments including Phoenix and Memphis. In Minneapolis, the court "dismissed the case with prejudice, bringing federal oversight to an end despite the City's continued support for the decree," Red Line for Civil Rights reported.
- Marshall Voted to Confirm Todd Blanche, Whose Justice Department Declined a Civil Rights Investigation of the Renee Good Shooting. On March 5, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general, and he was confirmed 52 to 46. In August 2026 Marshall cast the deciding vote to confirm Blanche as attorney general. In January 2026, after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota, the Justice Department decided the Civil Rights Division would not conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting, prompting a wave of resignations from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, according to Red Line for Civil Rights. In the Breonna Taylor case, Red Line for Civil Rights reported, "In March 2026, DOJ moved to dismiss the remaining charges without explanation" against two former Louisville officers.
- Marshall Voted to Confirm the Attorney General Whose Bureau of Prisons Delayed First Step Act Releases. After Marshall voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons, which Bondi oversaw, fell behind on moving eligible people to halfway houses and home confinement. The Government Accountability Office found that the releases were delayed in 70% of cases reviewed, keeping people in prison past the dates the First Step Act made them eligible to leave, NOTUS reported. The bureau saw more than 1,400 corrections officers and other staff leave their positions in 2025, Filter reported, and it paid more than $387 million in overtime to staff in 2025.
- Marshall Cast One of the 50 Votes for a Medicaid Work Requirement That Exempts People Leaving Prison for Only Three Months. On July 1, 2025, Roger Marshall voted yes on H.R. 1, which passed 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote. The day before, he voted no on a motion to remove provisions that cut benefits through "the creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork requirements." Under the law, the work requirement's only exemption tied to incarceration applies if, "at any point during the 3-month period ending on the first day of such month, the individual was an inmate of a public institution," so after three months people leaving jail or prison must document 80 hours of work a month. On January 1, 2027, Medicaid work requirements are scheduled to take effect nationwide, and a 2018 study found former inmates were 40 times more likely than members of the general population to suffer a fatal overdose in the first two weeks after release.
- Marshall Voted Six Times Against Barring Payouts to January 6 Rioters From the Planned Anti-Weaponization Fund. During the June 4-5, 2026 debate on the immigration enforcement bill, Roger Marshall voted against every attempt to bar or limit payments from the Anti-Weaponization Fund: Senator Chuck Schumer's motion to send the bill back to committee with instructions covering payments to the fund, which failed 49 to 50, so a switch by Marshall alone would have adopted it; amendments to bar payments to individuals convicted of certain crimes, to individuals convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021 and to certain individuals; an amendment to compensate officers who defended the Capitol; and limits on judgments and settlements under the law the fund relied on. The motion's instructions, printed in the Congressional Record, named payments being used for or transferred to the fund, and the Senate passed the bill after rejecting repeated attempts by members of both parties to prohibit or restrict it. Trump had backed the fund while declining to rule out payouts to his family or people who attacked Capitol police, and "At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by President Trump for their roles in the January 6 Capitol attack have been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes separate from Jan. 6," Lawfare found. The fund was never created; Blanche formally rescinded the plan in August 2026 and said he and the president would support passing a similar measure through Congress.
Roger Marshall's Payout Votes and the Kansans Pardoned for the January 6 Attack
- Pardoned Kansans. The Kansans charged in the January 6 attack include alleged members of the Proud Boys, a Topeka City Council candidate and others, and all were pardoned on January 20, 2025, KCUR reported, among them "a group of Kansas City-area Proud Boys, including William Chrestman, Christopher Kuehne and Louis Enrique Colon." The amendments Marshall voted against would have barred the planned fund from paying anyone convicted of assaulting officers that day.
Frequently Asked Questions About Roger Marshall on Criminal justice
What is Roger Marshall's record on criminal justice under Trump?
Roger Marshall voted to confirm Pam Bondi, Harmeet Dhillon and Todd Blanche, whose Justice Department dropped the Louisville and Minneapolis police cases, declined a civil rights investigation of the Renee Good shooting and dismissed the remaining Breonna Taylor charges. In June 2026 he voted six times against barring or limiting payouts from the planned Justice Department fund, including a motion that failed 49 to 50, and he cast one of the 50 votes for the 2025 law whose work requirement reaches people three months after they leave jail.
Did Roger Marshall vote to bar payments to January 6 defendants?
No. Roger Marshall voted against a June 4, 2026 motion covering payments from the planned fund, which failed by one vote, and on June 5 against an amendment to bar payments to individuals convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021, which failed 54 to 45 short of the 60 it needed. He also voted against compensating the officers who defended the Capitol that day.
What happened to police consent decrees under the officials Roger Marshall confirmed?
Roger Marshall voted to confirm civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon in April 2025, and in May 2025 her division dropped the Louisville and Minneapolis cases and moved to retract findings against departments in Phoenix, Memphis and elsewhere. The Minneapolis case was dismissed with prejudice, ending federal oversight there.
Last updated: 2026-10-25