Lawmakers and their staff can now access their committee’s rules for issuing subpoenas and taking depositions, thanks to a new database of such guidelines compiled in the name of bipartisan oversight.
The Project on Government Oversight collected the rules each committee and subcommittee formed during the 113th Congress to create a resource that could inform lawmakers in the new session if they decide to tweak their guidelines.
“If you’re working for a committee that has oversight responsibility and thinking about changing your rules, this database will allow you to see what other committees have done,” said Justin Rood, director of congressional oversight at POGO and former investigative chief to retired Sen. Tom Coburn.
Rood said the group launched its oversight tool at the beginning of the 114th Congress because staff often rework subpoena and deposition rules at the outset of a new session.
The database will include both the full text of oversight procedures and a color-coded reference guide that will allow staffers to learn the rules of other committees and subcommittees at a glance.
Rood said the effort is part of POGO’s congressional oversight initiative, which aims to support oversight committees in their efforts to root out government fraud, waste and abuse.
He said it took staff about one week to compile the rules. POGO plans to update the database once lawmakers vote new rules in place.
