FEDERALhearing transcript

Select Committee Hearing on Congressional Civility and Collaboration

Original title: BUILDING A MORE CIVIL AND COLLABORATIVE CULTURE IN CONGRESS

January 1, 2022

Congressional Reform Legislative Procedure Civility Government Modernization

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

The Frame

What this does

This hearing represents a procedural shift in how congressional committees conduct business, specifically testing whether changing physical seating and time limits can reduce partisan posturing and increase substantive legislative work.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Members of Congress

They are subject to new, experimental rules regarding seating and questioning time during committee hearings.

Congressional Witnesses

They participate in extended, less formal dialogue sessions rather than traditional short-form testimony.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2022.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress held a hearing to test new, less formal seating and questioning formats designed to encourage civil dialogue. The committee experimented with a roundtable-style layout and extended questioning periods to move away from traditional political posturing.

Key Facts

The committee implemented a new seating arrangement where members face each other rather than sitting in rows.
The hearing format allowed for 2 hours of extended, non-segregated back-and-forth questioning between members and witnesses.
Members retained the right to claim their individual 5-minute questioning periods following the extended session.
The hearing was held on June 17, 2021, in Room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The committee utilized rule flexibility under clause 2(j) of House rule XI to modify standard hearing procedures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the committee change the seating arrangement?

The committee changed the seating to allow members to look at each other while speaking, which they believe facilitates better dialogue compared to traditional rows.

How was the questioning time managed during this hearing?

The committee allowed 2 hours of extended, flexible back-and-forth questioning between members and witnesses, followed by the standard 5-minute individual questioning periods.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Procedural Experimentation

The committee is actively using its rule-making authority to bypass traditional House hearing structures to test if physical environment impacts legislative output.

Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress

Connected Entities

personYuval Levin“Witness, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the America”Map →

organizationSelect Committee on the Modernization of Congress“The committee conducting the hearing”Map →

personWilliam Timmons“Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress”Map →

personMolly Reynolds“Witness, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings”Map →

personDerek Kilmer“Chairman of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance40
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy10
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment15
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz10
Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools