Against the odds, select committee aims to push Congress into the 21st century

It’s one of the most important committees in Congress, yet it has only temporary office space. It has just two full-time legislative staff members. And it borrows other committees’ rooms to hold hearings.

But against those odds, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is pushing ahead with a bipartisan approach that could produce some of the most important work of the 116th Congress. On Thursday, the panel presented its first set of recommendations, on making the House more transparent, and committee members are poised to dig into other, more in­trac­table problems, such as increasing funding to hire and retain a better, more diverse staff and adopting a calendar that allows for real legislative results.

If their colleagues agree to some of these changes, this committee could end up making the place function in a way that produces dividends for years to come.

View the complete May 25 article by Paul Kane on The Washington Post website here.