hruska became an influential member of the senate appropriations committee and the senate judiciary committee. hruska voted in favor of the civil rights acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the voting rights act of 1965 and the confirmation of thurgood marshall to the u.s. supreme court. though congress was controlled by democrats for his entire time in the senate, he was known as a skillful legislator, and was said to have influenced much of the federal criminal justice system's changes during his era. he was the ranking minority member of the judiciary committee at the time of his retirement.