House Republicans next week will convene a series of “listening sessions” that will allow any GOP lawmaker to tell Republican leaders what they believe should be included in a massive year-end spending bill.
Beginning Tuesday, House Appropriations subcommittee chairs will convene in an office building near the Capitol for the sole purpose of hearing from lawmakers who traditionally have no say in spending legislation because they don’t have a coveted seat on the Appropriations panel.
The listening sessions are part of a GOP management overhaul spearheaded by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who has promised to end the party’s top-down governing style.
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Republicans were invited on Thursday to attend, in an email that promised the sessions “will be an opportunity to learn more about the contents of each bill and allow members to offer updated perspectives or ask questions.”
While Democrats are not invited to the listening sessions, a Republican aide said the committee is accepting spending requests from both parties and so far they are pouring in, numbering “in the thousands.”
Ryan and other Republican leaders are hoping they will have an easier time passing the spending bill by a Dec. 11 deadline if they ensure their rank and file has a say in the legislation. The final bill will fund government for the remainder of fiscal 2016.
Listening sessions will be limited to one hour for each of six appropriations bills. The half-dozen measures are the only remaining spending bills that have not been passed by the House, and they are expected to be wrapped into one large bill, known as the omnibus.
Another six spending bills were approved earlier this year.
The listening sessions start on Tuesday with the Financial Services and General Government appropriations legislation. The Appropriations subcommittee in charge of that bill is chaired by Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.
Wednesday’s listening session agenda includes Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies, chaired by Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., and the Interior, Environment and Related agencies legislation, chaired by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
On Thursday, lawmakers can talk to Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., about the Labor Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies bill, and can meet with Kay Granger, R-Texas, about the State, Foreign Operations and related programs.
The listening session approach marks an historic change to the appropriations process because it would, for the first time, allow non-appropriators to have formal input into spending legislation.
In a press conference last week, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker and an appropriator, questioned the approach. Pelosi said the move goes beyond the “governing by committee” approach which Ryan pledged the House would follow.
“I wish him well with it,” Pelosi said. “But out of respect as an appropriator, out of respect for the knowledge, the expertise that people have in their focus on their subcommittees, I think that will be an interesting dynamic to see how his appropriators react to his whole conference weighing in on the bills … and calling it ‘we’re respecting the committee system.'”
