A More Modern Congress: Report Reviews Successes, Challenges

A new report looks at how Congress can continue to modernize and advance to serve the needs of the American people.

The goal is to “future proof” Congress to ensure the legislative branch can “engage in an agile process of continuous improvement so it can make better policy, increase its effectiveness, and better meet the needs of constituent.”

The report is from the POPVOX Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is to make government work better for all.  

The report is both backward looking and forward looking, and calls the period from 2019 to the present, a “Golden Age” of congressional modernization.

Congressional Achievements

The report reviewed some of the technological and other advancements made in the way the legislature functions since 2019. It praised lawmakers, particularly those on the now defunct Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (ModCom), for their work in modernizing the way Congress does business.  

ModCom operated from 2019 to 2022 and recommended 202 improvements for how the House could improve operations. 60 of those were implemented.

The report also praised numerous successes in technological innovation, capacity, and engagement.

Those include:

·      Installing modern technology tools to boost efficiency, effectiveness, and oversight.

·      The creation of the House Digital Service.

·      The creation of a House human resources department.

·      Adopting best practices for onboarding and resource training.

·      Unlinking staff and member pay and promoting pay transparency.

·      Having House websites meet accessibility standards for the first time.

·      Improving constituent visits to the U.S. Capitol to make them more engaging.

The authors point out that the successor to ModCom, the Committee on House Administration (CHA)’s Subcommittee on Modernization, is continuing to implement further recommendations.

LISTEN: FEDtalk hosted ModCom and congressional capacity champions.

Keep Pace

But the report warns that members must stay on top of modernization. In particular, the authors are concerned about government having a “pacing problem” where government is unable to keep pace with changing technology and is therefore unable to regulate it properly, pointing to social media as one recent example.

The report also notes that with the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron Doctrine, the ball will be placed more squarely in the congressional court, and Congress must be prepared.

“Congress must capitalize on this capacity-building renaissance so it can exercise its Article One responsibilities,” said POPVOX Foundation cofounder and executive director Marci Harris.

POPVOX plans to update the report based on developments to ensure it stays evergreen.

“Members (and the staff who support them) can change the institution because you are the institution! To future-proof Congress for the years ahead, it needs you to be part of the conversation,” said the report.