Congressional modernization was having a moment. A select committee, convened to come up with ways of improving the House, drafted more than 200 recommendations over the course of the 116th and 117th Congresses. A small but significant pool of money was allocated for modernization projects, and a subcommittee was spun off in the 118th to implement those goals.
All the while, Rep. Derek Kilmer was beating the modernization drum, launching a caucus to “Fix Congress” and raising alarms about the need for things like a continuity plan in the event of a mass casualty event.
But Kilmer, a Washington Democrat, retired at the end of last Congress after more than a decade in the House. So far this year, the modernization subcommittee has not yet met publicly, and the House’s modernization budget is facing a proposed cut.
