On January 4, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives established the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. The Select Committee was tasked to investigate, hold public hearings, study, make findings, and develop recommendations to make Congress more effective, efficient, and transparent. Following extensive meetings and hearings the bi-partisan committee released recommendations on a rolling basis throughout 2019. In December 2019, all 12 committee members introduced H.Res. 756, the Moving Our Democracy and Congressional Operations towards Modernization (MODCOM) resolution. The resolution incorporates 29 of the recommendations passed by the Select Committee to improve transparency, accessibility and communication throughout the House. The resolution next passed the full House on March 10, 2020. The Select Committee is set to issue a final, public report on all of their efforts on October 31, 2020.
The Article I Initiative has recently reached out to an extensive range of congressional experts to offer their thoughts on the Select Committee's work to date and possible next steps. In the months to come we will be featuring their views on a weekly basis in this special blog series. We look forward to a great discussion and we welcome your own ideas and responses!