Improving Congressional hearings

[lpetrich]

Daniel Schuman on Twitter: "I would be interested in people's ideas about how to improve the format for congressional hearings." / Twitter
then
Daniel Schuman on Twitter: "Okay, some ideas on how to make committee questioning more productive -- many stolen from your ideas. Comments + feedback welcome. https://t.co/GxGkY5hIyP" / Twitter

Questioning Witnesses. Congressional committees are encouraged to modify the 5-minute rule to allow for improved questioning of witnesses and additional fact finding.

• Speaking time. First, the 5-minute rule applies to the time a member spends speaking and does not decrease based on how long a witness answers the question.

• Staff questioning. Second, members are permitted to allow a staff member to ask their questions. The Chair or Ranking Member may allow staff to question witnesses for 15 minutes at the end of the first round of questioning.

• Pool time. Third, members may pool their question time, whether to a particular member or towards having a staffer asking the questions.

• Member Statement time. Members who wish to make statements instead of asking questions will be provided an opportunity to do so at the end of the question period. The committee is empowered to address violators by deprioritizing their questioning at a future hearing.

• Witness Statements. The Chair, with the agreement of the Ranking Member, may relegate witness statements to written form.

Many responders grumbled that many Congresspeople use much of their time to grandstand rather than ask questions. Like Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Jim Jordan.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The root of the problem is not necessarily format. It’s that there‘s so much pressure on members of both parties to spend time fundraising that it takes time away from deeply studying and preparing for hearings.
If you want hearings to be better, get money out of politics." / Twitter

AOC has distinguished herself as a very studious member of Congress, one who often shows up very well-prepared for hearings.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Asked the Sharpest Questions in the Michael Cohen Hearing | GQ - "The freshman congresswoman avoided grandstanding and went straight for Trump’s taxes."
(on her excellent questioning of Trump's ex-lawyer)

A condition that has long afflicted Washington lawmakers—on a bipartisan basis!—is the urge to say something big and splashy during high-profile hearings, since doing so might earn them a segment on the evening news or a mention in the morning paper back home. Because there are 435 members of the House jockeying for the scarce resource of media attention, on-camera time provides them all with a valuable opportunity to star in a retweetable video clip. These dynamics often result in committee members, when given the chance to interrogate a key witness about an issue of national importance, instead choosing to deliver a miniature stump speech that may or may not require the witness's actual participation. (Looking at you, Cory Booker.)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turns committee hearings into appointment viewing - Washington Times

Some members of Congress read their questions from prepared scripts during hearings. Others veer off into non sequiturs or ask ill-conceived questions that witnesses clearly cannot be expected to answer.

But that’s not Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The freshman Democrat from New York, in Congress for less than six months, has become appointment viewing when she takes over the questioning in her committee hearings — and for good reason. She is on point and relentless to get what she’s after.

...
“What makes her so effective is that she actually asks questions instead of making a speech. She is very methodical. It reminds me of a good trial lawyer,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and senior liberal who also serves on the oversight panel.

...
“She comes across as someone who doesn’t come to a committee hearing unless she’s done quite a bit of background research on who is going to be there and what they are likely to know,” she said.

 

[lpetrich]

Most in Congress posture instead of fact-finding, except Ocasio-Cortez - 2019 March 6

Author Richard Cherwitz teaches a course on argumentation at the University of Texas, and he distinguishes between advocacy and inquiry.

This distinction is especially useful when evaluating congressional hearings. For example, I have observed that more often than not, members of Congress do not know how to — or won’t — ask genuine and useful questions. Their penchant is to practice argument as advocacy. Rather than engaging in inquiry, members spend their questioning time making speeches and asking rhetorical questions designed to lead to a predetermined political claim. They posture and dramatically draw attention to themselves — which, of course, is why the media is titillated and hence spends an inordinate amount of time including their questioning in a seemingly endless news loop.

From a nonpartisan perspective, Ocasio-Cortez (and perhaps a few others) were the exception to the rule during the Feb. 27 hearing. She practiced argument as inquiry. Her questions were probative and focused on discovery, setting up future lines of inquiry, obtaining new information and discerning additional witnesses who might testify; unlike others, hers was not an exercise in self-promotion.

Then the details of AOC's questioning of MC.

The larger point to be made, extending well beyond last week's Cohen hearing, is that too often members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats — don’t know how to or won’t informatively interview expert witnesses and persons with relevant personal experience. Whether the subject is environmental, social welfare or other important issues, senators and representatives engage in argument as advocacy; they handpick witnesses who reflect members’ partisan conclusions, cherry-pick answers, and generally substitute posturing, self-promotion and speech-making for questioning.

Katie Porter is also good at asking questions in committee hearings, so AOC is not alone in that.

Democrat Katie Porter's confrontation with CDC director goes viral | TheHill - "A confrontation between Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert R. Redfield went viral this week, as the California Democrat pressed him to guarantee free coronavirus tests for all Americans."

 

[lpetrich]

Netflix for Democracy | Brennan Center for Justice - "Dialing for dollars takes up way too much time for members of Congress. AOC has found a way around it."

For most members, fundraising is becoming an ever-steeper hill to climb. Incumbents in the House and Senate raised $486 million in 2000. By 2016 that number had nearly doubled to $909 million — far outpacing inflation. Members don’t have to report how much time they spend on fundraising, but leaks to the press have indicated that the parties expect new members to budget four hours a day of call time, plus an hour a day for fundraisers, which can be anything from a breakfast to a cocktail hour to a pass-the-hat potluck to a $1,000-a-plate gala dinner.

“Both parties have told newly elected members of the Congress that they should spend 30 hours a week in the Republican and Democratic call centers across the street from the Congress, dialing for dollars,” Rick Nolan, a Minnesota Democrat who retired from Congress this year, said recently, adding: “The simple fact is, our entire legislative schedule is set around fundraising.”

An Inside Look At Congressional Fundraising | The Government Affairs Institute - in 2013, reporter Ryan Lizza overheard a Congressmember's dialing for dollars and livetweeted about it.
Ryan Lizza on Twitter: "Since people have asked, member of Congress making fundraising calls was on train from NY to DC. (Confused? Go here: (link))" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

How is AOC able to say no this pervasive culture of nonstop fundraising? For one thing, with the press following her every move, she can get her political messages out for free. But more important, she can rely on a loyal base of small donors. Coming into the 116th Congress, Ocasio-Cortez had the highest percentage of small donors ($200 or less) of any member of Congress, at 62 percent.

AOC's former Chief of Staff:
Saikat Chakrabarti on Twitter: "I wish our Congress was as effective at organizing around legislation as they seem to be in organizing big money and planting crap stories in Politico. Bullshit like this is why people have no faith in Congress doing its job -- because it doesn't." / Twitter
then
Saikat Chakrabarti on Twitter: "I learned yesterday that attendance at committee meetings is abysmally low. Committee chairs are excited when we tell them '@AOC doesn't do call time, so we can actually show up!'. Just showing up is too high a bar for these legislators telling us we need to learn the ropes." / Twitter
AOC herself:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This week I learned some members spend as little as 5 hours per WEEK in their office bc their fundraising commitments are so high.
It’s not them, it’s our broken system of campaign finance.
Bc I rely on recurring small dollar donors ((link) !), I can do my job." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I often find that some members who have to do call time the most are very enthusiastic about getting money out of politics.
Members do want less obligations to lobbyists & more leg. work, but some House races cost < $10 million; & that’s *every 2 years* before outside spending!" / Twitter
(I think that she meant > $10 million) then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "One of the most important things people can do to get big money out of politics is small recurring monthly donations. (You can see the monthly button on this link)
It’s like Netflix, but for unbought members of Congress.
It’s why I can act independently. https://t.co/G7YMHQkGDn" / Twitter

But let’s also hope more members copy AOC’s approach. Three dollars a month for a clean member of Congress? It’s less than most of us drop on a single cup of coffee at Starbucks. Netflix, but for democracy.

What AOC uses: ActBlue — Billions raised online since 2004
The Republicans' answer to it: Directory | WinRed