US economy

From Afar, Congress Begins Oversight of Trump Coronavirus Response


“Circumstances have made it clear,” Mr. Hoyer said, that remote voting must be considered. “9/11 raised the specter of members not being able to get back together, but it did not create the reality of that,” he added. “This has created the reality of members being unable to come together.”

But in the Senate, Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, ruled out the possibility. Mr. Blunt, who as the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration oversees the chamber’s operations, said there were lines the Senate would not, as of now, contemplate crossing.

“To make final decisions, to mark up a bill, to vote on a bill on the floor, I think you will see a traditional approach for a long time,” he said. “But I think we will be much more flexible in terms of how we gather information.”

Beyond the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers have a lot on their plates. They must pass annual spending bills to keep the government open, as well as their annual military policy bill. They must conduct routine oversight of the Trump administration’s programs and policies, including the stimulus programs, immigration, education and health care.

Mr. Hoyer acknowledged that there were a string of unanswered questions, including whether committees would meet by teleconference and how the public — accustomed to watching deliberations on C-SPAN — would be able to observe lawmakers conducting the nation’s business when most of the work was being done on private conference calls, as is now the case.

Already, some committees are making adjustments. The Senate Armed Services Committee, which is working on the bill that sets policy for the nation’s military, has developed a process it calls “paper hearings,” in which committee members will post questions to the Pentagon on the panel’s website and officials will have one week to answer them. Gone will be the spontaneous back-and-forth of hearings in person.

The Appropriations Committees, which control all government spending, are adamant that they still work to meet their own deadlines with staff members working remotely with federal agencies to sort out their funding needs. Before the outbreak, House leaders had set a goal of finishing their versions of the 12 spending bills by the end of June, but it is unclear if the body would even be able to meet to vote then if they were complete.



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