The Pour Over Today - TPO Explains | Why Does Congress Hold Hearings?

Episode Date: March 14, 2026

Readers of The Pour Over pick a topic to have explained, and Jason or Kathleen have to get Joe to understand it in less than 30 minutes… This week, Kathleen is explaining Congressional Hearings. Looking to support us? You can choose to pay⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out our sponsors! We actually use and enjoy every single one. ⁠Cru⁠ ⁠Wild Alaskan⁠ ⁠HelloFresh⁠ ⁠Safe House Project⁠ ⁠QAVA⁠ ⁠CCCU⁠ ⁠Upside⁠ ⁠Mosh⁠ ⁠LMNT⁠ ⁠Bible Gateway Plus⁠ ⁠Life Application Study Bible⁠ ⁠Unto⁠ ⁠Compelled Podcast⁠ ⁠I Choose Love⁠ ⁠TPO Corrections Page⁠

Publish hearings are the most important publications originating within Congress. Like there's so much information that comes from them. Whoa. Yeah. So I can just go on the government website and find these transcripts. Yeah. Probably not about national security though, so don't get too excited. Hi, I know you, Joe.

Yeah. All right. Are you doing the ASMR thing? Yeah, should I do that? I'm jealous. It's my lucky day because I actually snagged the last sparkling element from our office fridge. Black cherry.

I saw it earlier. I should have just taken it earlier. I didn't. You were so gracious and generous knowing that it would go to me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, don't put it past me. I do have a tendency to accidentally pick up people's drinks.

Then take it. You've done that to me. I only have one time. No, I'll just have to stick with my... Hands off. You're staying away from my sparkling element today. I'll stick with my raspberry salt over here. Okay.

You want to tell the people what we're talking about today? Yeah. Today, folks, we are going to be chatting about congressional hearings, which we write about news stories in our news segments all throughout the year, to be honest. So it comes up multiple times. I feel like you always hear about them. Yeah. But I don't know.

I feel like there are just topics that we cover all the time because it's like just part of the news. And then when somebody's like, what even is that? I'm like, that's a good question. And that's kind of like the point of what we're doing here, right? Like I'm not an expert on, well, just about anything. But I like to do research and then, you know, explain it to people. So we are doing the research so you don't have to.

Love it. Love it. Shallow dives. Shallow dive. Yeah. Shallow dive on congressional hearings. Yeah. Sounds dangerous.

Yeah. I actually did. I came prepared-ish today. It's printed in black and white, but it's fine. I have this graphic to show you. So, you know, whenever a bill goes to become. a law. It starts here. It's, you know, introduced, hey, I made this bill. You should like it. And then it goes to committee consideration before it can go through all these other steps. So right here is what we're talking

about today, these hearings to gather information, at least for the legislative hearings, which we'll talk about the different kinds. But this is kind of in the process of where you'll see a lot of these hearings. Gotcha. Okay. That's a helpful visual. Okay. What do you know about them? I have an image that comes in my head. Yeah. And it's Mark Zuckerberg. Okay. Because I don't know how many times he's been summoned, if that's the right term, I'm sure you'll teach me, to a congressional hearing. So I see in my head a clip of Mark Zuckerberg sitting with some papers in front of him, maybe like attorneys on each of his sides, and then another camera will turn to folks in Congress that are sitting like a panel, just grilling him with questions. That's what I think of.

I mean, yeah, that's about if I, like when I was just. starting my research and I looked at what our writers have written for this email for today. And then also almost any other article that talks about this, it says, picture, somebody sitting in front of Congress elevated on their bench. And it's like, yep, that's what everybody pictures, right? But yeah, it's really just a, so I guess to zoom out just a little bit, Congress, we talked about, you know, how to make a law, how to turn a bill into a law. And we talked a little bit about there being congressional committees.

And so if you think about Congress, being broken up into these. Well, then what do the committees actually do? They hold hearings to get information. So, yeah, that's really it. It's a formal meeting of a congressional committee on together information on a topic. So a couple of things that's not a trial. Like nobody's been convicted of anything. There's no vote.

It's just like an official on the record interview. That's important distinction because I'm also thinking about similar setups where it is like someone going through audition, I'll just say that in quotes, to be appointed a position. So that that's a clear delineation that the appointment process when someone testifies before Congress is a totally separate thing than what we're talking about. Well, it actually, it's one of the types of hearings. Oh, are there different. Okay.

Yeah. There's, so I think four, maybe a little bit more, but like four main types. So you have legislative hearings. So we think about like Congress is, you know, putting together all of these bills and deciding on which bills they should vote out of committee and move to the floor and stuff. And so together information on the bills, they'll hold, they'll just gather information, hold legislative hearings. So that could be with other members of Congress. It could be government officials, interest groups, academics, maybe celebrities, anybody who can speak on that topic so that they can gather information before this issue becomes. public law. So that's one type of hearing. And then you have oversight hearings. So you've heard probably

like the House Oversight Committee. So these are the intent is to review or study a law or an issue or an activity and focus on like the quality of like if you're going to review a program, a federal program when it's time, you know, to reauthorize it. Every year the Federal Reserve has to testify before Congress. And that's a type of oversight hearing because they're effectively. saying, okay, tell us the quality of your program so we can reauthorize and stuff. And then you also have investigative hearings. So with the intent of investigating something, there's some sort of suspicion of wrongdoing. And then the confirmation hearings that you were talking about.

And so that one is unique to the Senate to confirm presidential nominees for different positions. Also unique to the Senate is probably a category that doesn't get talked about much, but ratification hearings. if we were to intern to a treaty with someone, if the executive branch were to negotiate a treaty, that would have to be ratified by through a ratification hearing. There's also, there are like little other types of hearings

that don't happen as frequently. So you can have hearings outside of Washington called field hearings. If a group of Congress members wants to have a hearing outside of a committee, then they can have an ad hoc hearing, like they can just have a hearing. And then there's shadow hearings, which would be hearings held by members of the minority party to promote their views. Gotcha. Different types. Yeah, different types.

And would you say the reason congressional hearings exists depends on what category it falls into? Or is there kind of like a catch-all? Here's why they started these congressional hearings. Yeah. there's just not really in the constitution there's not really a way to find for them to gather information and so this is just how they you know how they gather information but it does go back to i mean the hearing started during washington's time um the first congressional hearing was after um the army got defeated in some battle and they they decided to look into it and so um it was after the it was in 1792 after major general Claire's defeat at the Battle of Wabash, Wabash, Wabash, I don't know. I wasn't there, but it was in what is now, Ohio, I did learn that. Anyway, so American soldiers saw a 97% casualty rate, and they needed some answers.

It was considered the first cabinet meeting after this, and they created their first investigative findings. And then Congress actually voted to not consider the findings. And Major General St. Clair was mad that he didn't get his name cleared. Wow. Yeah, but that was the first one. So they just needed a way to say like, okay, we have to look into this. Let's all get together and look into this.

And so now obviously there's a lot more like structure to them and obviously different categories and stuff. But yeah, it goes back to just needing information. Yeah, totally. You mentioned no one's getting convicted when they stand before Congress. So how do, logistically speaking, how do they get people to show up? Like, what goes into that whole process? I mean, I've never been invited, so I don't know. But so if they want somebody to come before them and testify,

Congress will give them an invitation to testify. And most people think it would be like a valuable opportunity to communicate or publicize their views. So if this is like a celebrity who really believes in a cause and they're invited to testify, like, of course they're going to show up and go. and like lobby for the issue that they feel strongly about. But then you might see in the news that Congress is threatening to hold and contempt somebody for not coming. So if Congress wants to talk to somebody and they don't come by invitation, the committee or subcommittee can issue a subpoena, basically telling them that they need to come. And they can also subpoena documents or evidence if they need to, like not subpoena a person.

But yeah, so you can get a subpoena issued for you to show up. Gotcha. I wasn't sure about that. Yeah. So that definitely clarified how if you're not positively motivated to be there to advocate for something like the celebrity. Exactly. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. Do you know what happens if you ignore your subpoena? Yeah, absolutely. Why do you want to know? No, I'm just kidding. Okay, so a couple of different things. I was interested. I'm like, so like what happens?

I don't know. It just kind of feels like something you hear about. And it's like, could you actually get in trouble? Congress can take an individual into custody. Like they can detain them for not complying. Wow. Or they can take a case to the Department of Justice and recommend criminal charges be brought. It would be misdemeanor, so don't worry.

But I'm just kidding. That's still bad. But you could be fined. It has to be more than $100, but less than $1,000. And imprisonment in a common jail for at least one month, but not more than 12 months. I don't know. It's so funny how, yeah. Yeah.

It's also funny that like all of these things obviously came about, I mean, over the last 200, 300 years, it's like, all right, we need some rules around this. Let's get people to show up. Yeah. We're going to fine them. Over $199. Exactly. Less than a. Yeah.

Yeah. Or you can also file another suit declaring somebody legally has to show up and bring civil action against people if they aren't. So, yeah, you got to go. Wow. Okay. Or pay. Or pay. Yes, $999.

Right. And some time in a common jail. You mentioned you're waiting for your invite. Can. Pins and needles. Yeah. Can average folks like you and me just show up to the, are they public? Yeah.

Or is it like a closed door event? Yeah. They typically are public. I don't actually know. I assume, like, just nobody can walk through. I assume there's some sort of security there. But generally, they are open to the public. It's actually required under Senate rules for them to be open to the public.

But a hearing, just like committee meetings, it can be closed for a specific reason. So reasons would include involving national security information, concerns about committee personnel or their management or procedures. If it invades personal privacy or damages somebody's reputation, if it reveals identities, relating to law enforcement activities, discloses confidential, financial or commercial information, or divulges information that other regulations require be kept confidential. Okay, so that probably answers this next related question, because these, obviously I've seen it on YouTube and there's clips and it's televised. So not every congressional hearing is accessible even like recordings.

Right. I think, I mean, there's rules around it. So if it falls into some of those six rules or categories of things that can be excluded from being public, a senator would have to motion for it to be closed. So I would have to second it. Then they would temporarily close to discuss if it should be closed. And then they would have to have a majority roll call and an open session to close the hearing. And then they can close a hearing or a series of sessions for just 14 days max. So, yeah, there are some closed hearings.

Interesting. Okay. But, I mean, for all the public ones, like the transcripts and everything, it's all made public. And there was somebody, I don't know, when I was looking, some authority on government documents said that published hearings are the most important publications originating within Congress. Like, there's so much information that comes from them. Whoa. Yeah. So, I mean.

So I can just go on the government website and find these transcripts. Yeah. Probably not about nine. national security though, so don't get too excited. I know you, Joe. Yeah. Have you ever opened your Bible and thought, man, I really wish I understood this better? We've all been there.

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Congressional hearings are what they sound like. It's Congress hearing about stuff. I should have known. Shallow dive, yet you did answer some. Yeah. Things I just knew from a periphery or at least had some impression, but you clarified for me. So I appreciate that. So I had some fun facts.

And I think it actually, of course I did. But I think it actually gave me a lot more context. Because I was looking into like what are some of the bigger hearings that we could have, I don't know, heard about? Or like what are times that people I would have heard about maybe had gone before Congress? And so when you hear some of these, you're like, oh, I do know what a congressional hearing is. So let me run through this list. So Watergate, so the Watergate hearings, which led to the resignation of President Nixon, were televised. Those hearings, they estimate 71 percent of Americans watched live.

There was, I mean, the President Clinton impeachment vote. People watched that. Hillary Clinton's Benghazi hearing. People watch that. James Comey's testimony. So these are things that I know that we've heard about or written about. Some obviously confirmation hearings get a lot

of notoriety. So like Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, according to Nielsen, more than 20 million people watched. And then other people who've gone and there are reasons. And so this I think where it gave me a lot of context. So Bob Barker has testified

before Congress. He testified in front of a House subcommittee on the proposed captive elephant elephant accident prevention act but he was always like an animal lover he would always talk about like spay and neuter your pets you know and so like okay he cared about animal stuff so he went

this month actually it was in the news Tim Tebow went before Congress to testify on child exploitation and he has been testifying in support of a bipartisan act called the Renewed Hope Act of 2026 hoping to fund a workforce of basically investigators

going against child, investigating child exploitation. Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox have lobbied for increased funding for Parkinson's research. Nick Jonas has advocated for federal funding for type 1 diabetes. Dennis Quaid testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about holding pharmaceutical companies accountable. And he went before them because he had a family member who was impacted.

Let's see. Ben Stiller testified about the Senate Foreign Relations or Senate testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Gosh, these committees are just a mouthful. About the humanitarian crisis in Syria. And so for him, I was like, why was he? You know, what did he?

And he is like a UN ambassador for that. So that's where it started to come together for me that like these celebrities who have their position and have chosen, you know, to speak out for different, you know, causes, have learned about those causes. And then we'll go in front of Congress and lobby for, you know, attention to those causes. So kind of neat.

Yeah. Now that you kind of run through the list, it is great that there is a platform. Right. To talk with our voted leaders on these issues that are more knowledgeable about it and can advocate and bring others on board with their celebrity status. I'll just say that. You know, they can have the public tune in to cases that are important to them. Yeah, for sure.

I mean, citizens can, I'm sure, like, be called and go testify. I feel like that would be like the picture of, you know, okay, you vote for this person and then they bring a, you know, an issue that matters to you. And then you're able to go and testify before Congress. But of course, you know, if you hear about Tim Tebow going up there and talking about a bill, then like people are going to pay attention to it. Right. Yeah. It's kind of cool. Yeah.

Great fun facts. Yeah. Thank you. These were fun and helpful. Yeah. Fun and helpful. Yeah. helpful sex, a new segment.

Brought to you by? Yeah. Well, do you want to move on to Christian perspectives? Yeah. I don't know. For me, it was kind of you, I initially pictured these hearings and thought about like, oh gosh, somebody's in trouble. They're up there having to answer for whatever they've done.

And it was helpful to see that that's not always the case. But it also was a good, just eternal perspective reminder for me that like politicians or people in general are going to let me down. They're going to come and go and people are just going to disappoint us inevitably. So just a reminder to put your hope in the Lord who does not have term limits. We say that in one of our Christian perspectives. And I love it. He rules with compassion and executes justice perfectly.

He sits in throne forever. He judges the world with righteousness. He is a refuge for the persecuted and a refuge in times of trouble. So, yeah, if my hope's there, then all right. man man Kathleen is great to have you back thank you yeah took a two week hiatus

spent some time with a flu A I don't recommend what a wonderful time glad you're healthy thanks glad to be back yeah all right well thanks everyone for tuning in to another episode

of TPO Explains as a reminder you can watch this episode on YouTube and Spotify make sure to like comment and subscribe we'd love to hear your thoughts and your feedback Thanks for tuning in. Until next time.

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