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Posted July 2019
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In May 2019, Attorney General William Barr refused to testify before the House Committee on the Judiciary after the Committee informed him he would face 60 minutes of questions from staff counsel in addition to questioning from Committee members. While the Department of Justice claimed that the Judiciary Committee conditions for the Attorney General’s testimony were “unprecedented and unnecessary,” there is in fact a long history in the House of Representatives under which committee counsels and members of Congress conduct extended questioning of hearing witnesses – including Department of Justice officials.
The House of Representatives rules regarding questioning of witnesses at hearings contain a baseline requirement that committees apply a “five-minute” rule under which each member of the committee has the opportunity to question each witness for five minutes. However, in 1997 the House approved revisions to the rules proposed by the House Republican leadership that provide House committees discretion to allow members of a Committee to question witnesses for an extended block of time, not to exceed 60 minutes, equally divided between the majority and minority.
Since the 1997 rule change, numerous House Committees, including House Judiciary, House Natural Resources, House Education and Labor, House Transportation and Infrastructure, and House Government Reform and Oversight, have used extended questioning during oversight hearings. Such questioning has been used with both career and political federal officials including the Attorney General, Director of the FBI, Secretary of Energy, Administrator of EPA, Chairman of FERC, White House Counsel, Deputy White House Counsel, former Special Assistant to the President, Assistant Attorneys General, the DOJ Public Integrity Chief, and other high-ranking officials at DOJ and other agencies.
At November 3-4, 1997, hearings on “White House Compliance with Committee Subpoenas,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member and staff counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At December 8-9, 1997, hearings on “Current Implementation of the Independent Counsel Act,” the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At a November 19, 1998, hearing on “Impeachment: William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States,” the House Committee on the Judiciary allowed 60 minutes equally divided for minority and majority counsel questioning of the witness, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
At a July 29, 1999, hearing on “Allegations of VISA Fraud and Other Irregularities at the United States Embassy in Beijing, China,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member or committee counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At an August 5, 1999, hearing on “White House Insider Mark Middleton,” the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of Mark Middleton, former Special Assistant to the President during the Clinton Administration.
At a September 21, 1999, hearing on “Clemency for the FALN: A Flawed Decision?” the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member or committee counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At hearings on March 23, May 3 and May 4, 2000, on “Missing White House Emails: Mismanagement of Subpoenaed Records,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member and staff counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At hearings on May 4 and May 18, 2000, held to “Examine the Laws, Policies, Practice, and Operations of the DOI, DOE, and Other Agencies Pertaining to Payments to Their Employees, Including Payments Relative to Mineral Royalty Programs,” the House Natural Resources Committee invoked the rule, allowing 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning and 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning in the May 4 hearing, and 30 minutes equally divided for member questioning in the May 18 hearing. Witnesses questioned under these extended questioning arrangements included:
At a June 6, 2000, hearing on “Current Implementation of the Independent Counsel Act,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member and committee counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At a July 20, 2000, hearing on “Has the Department of Justice Given Preferential Treatment to the President and Vice President?” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning, and 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning, of James Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice.
At September 20-21, 2000, hearings on “Potential Energy Crisis in the Winter of 2000,” the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of witnesses including:
At a September 26, 2000, hearing on “Contact between Northrop Grumman Corporation and the White House Regarding Missing White House E-mails,” the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of Alan Gershel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice.
At February 8 and March 1, 2001, hearings on “The Controversial Pardon of International Fugitive Marc Rich,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule, and with agreement between the chair and ranking member, provided for 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning, and another 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning, of witnesses including:
At a May 3, 2001, hearing on “The FBI’s Controversial Handling of Organized Crime Investigations in Boston: The Case of Joseph Salvati,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning, and 30 minutes of questioning by the Republican chief counsel, of witnesses including:
At a June 15, 2001, hearing on “The Use of Prosecutorial Power in the Investigation of Joseph Gersten,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of witnesses including:
At a July 19, 2001, hearing on “The Benefits of Audio-Visual Technology in Addressing Racial Profiling,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of witnesses including:
At a December 13, 2001, hearing on “The FBI’s Handling of Confidential Informants in Boston: Will the Department of Justice Comply with Congressional Subpoenas?” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning of witnesses including Michael Horowitz, Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, Department of Justice.
At a February 6, 2002, hearing on “The History of Congressional Access to Deliberative Department of Justice Documents,” the House Committee on Government Reform invoked the rule to allow 60 minutes equally divided for committee counsel questioning of witnesses including:
At a November 15, 2005, hearing on “Current Governance Issues at Amtrak,” the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure allowed 60 minutes equally divided for member questioning of witnesses including:
At a May 23, 2007, hearing on “Continuing Investigation Into the U.S. Attorneys Controversy and Related Matters,” the House Committee on the Judiciary invoked the rule to allow 30 minutes equally divided for member questioning of Monica Goodling, former Senior Counsel to the Attorney General and White House Liaison, Department of Justice.
At an April 24, 2008, hearing on “Child Abuse Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens,” the House Committee on Education and Labor invoked the rule to allow 30 minutes equally divided for member questioning of witnesses including:
In addition, the 2014 House resolution establishing the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi provided that the Committee members and staff could conduct extended witness questioning as if under House Rule XI 2(j)(2).
