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The On the Hill: Breaking Down DC podcast is a collection of sharing more about what’s happening in DC without the bias, ways for you to get involved with the US government, and interviews with friends, colleagues who can help pull back the proverbial curtain of Washington, DC. Katherine Getty, host of the OTH podcast, is a 10-year Washingtonian who lives and breathes politics.
Katherine Getty 0:01
Hi, and welcome to the on the Hill podcast with me your host, Katherine Getty. Each Thursday, I'll peel back the curtain of what happens in Washington, from breaking down current events without bias, to interviews with fellow political nerds, and even and maybe most importantly, ways for you to get involved with our US government. Welcome back to another episode of The on the Hill podcast with me your host, Katherine Getty. Oftentimes in Washington, you hear about name calling, you see it on the news, it's what gets the clicks, it's what gets the viral moments. And it just had me thinking about how are we presenting how Congress, how we, as those who live in Washington, DC, see the interactions. Oftentimes, it feels more like you're only going to see vitriol when it comes to Congress. But I often see in my work day to day work, but also in my friends that work in on Capitol Hill, there is broad bipartisanship. So today, I'm going to talk a little bit about the decorum of the House and Senate, what are those rules of the road? When it comes to how are we going to conduct ourselves. And then I also want to talk about how things may not always be as a seam. So let's start with decorum, kind of went through both the House and the Senate rules, and looked in kind of the sections that talk about decorum and found a few similarities. One respectful conduct, respectful conduct is, you know, members are expected to address each other. May that be in house to the speaker, may that be in Senate, the senator from the state of Acts, there's just some respectful communication tactics. That's important when you have that respect that, look, it's not always, you know, freely given in this town. But when you show respect for one another, doesn't it break down barriers, we all know that if we show respect to somebody, it breaks out barriers, that is within the rules of the house in the Senate. There's another bucket adherence to procedures or in the Senate parliamentary procedures, members have to follow the established parliamentary procedures, rules of the order, such as obtaining recognition in the right way, or speaking and adhering to time limits. That's keeps everything within the bounds, dress codes, you hear a lot of buzz, especially in the Senate, where the Senate has changed a little bit of that the dress codes is here. But there is an expectation of how we're presenting ourselves. I think we all know that how we present ourselves sometimes takes into consideration how we feel about ourselves, how we show each other respect, matters, you know, and you see both in the House and the Senate prohibition of using electronic devices on the floor eating or drinking in the chain for engaging in disruptive behavior. And it's, I think that's important trying to keep what a lot of this decorum kind of falls to is, it's mining your P's and Q's. And it's not always easy when there are a lot of emotions, because the policies that these members of Congress are dealing with on a daily basis, are deeply personal to many people. They're deeply personal to the American people. And so I get it, but when you have these, you know, idea of the importance of respectful conduct adherence to procedures dresscode prohibition of certain behaviors. And then lastly, the maintaining of order. That is important, both in the House and the Senate of training ensure that the debate stays within those kind of guardrails. It's not always easy, maintaining order can get a little bit chaotic. But all of that to say is that there is kind of a basis. And I do you know, when the transition from the roles to Congress, I promise is not as chaotic as sometimes you see it on TV. There are definitely members on both sides of the aisle in both chambers that are quite the personality and really test each other's patience. But I see in the work I do on a daily basis. And if you're listening for the first time, hi, welcome. Thanks so much for joining. But, you know, in the daily basis, I go up and educate on Capitol Hill. It's called a lobbyist. There are many episodes where I talk about what lobbying is and what it isn't. I promise you it is less House of Cards, more Veep. But all that to say is I see more bipartisanship on really tough issues. Then I see division, and I think the division is normal. I think if you look at the districts that are across the country, you'll see districts that are really lean heavy dem, and some that lean really heavy Republican, and those members are duly elected and represent their people represent the people of their district. And they may expect something very different than the other side of the aisle. But you see members that maybe their districts are really tight, or maybe they just, and many believe in this, but the importance of bipartisanship, bipartisanship and find it and work towards it. And it's not always easy, because there's going to be the dynamics of someone's in the majority, and someone's in the minority. It's not always easy to be in the minority in either the House or the Senate. But there are, there are so many issues, that you see people coming together from, you know, health issues, to education, to defense to national security, which is probably like defense, to cybersecurity, to AI to whatever it may be, there are more members. And I just want to say there are more members, more staffers working together than I would venture that are working apart. And so when you see that next viral clip, there will be one we all know it, have faith, and know that there are people that are working on it doesn't always make it easier. And look, if you are represented by someone who you don't think aligns with your district. That's where voting is so important. That's why calling your members of Congress writing letters, there are episodes about registering to vote and calling your member of Congress. So make sure to check those out. But I just want to make sure to give you kind of the flip side, because I think often it's really easy for us as humans to latch on to the negativity bias to latch on the fact of Congress has broken, it will never be fixed. It can't be fixed. There's nothing happening in there. And I just want to tell you, I see it on a daily basis. People are working together really hard issues, and it may take a while. But they'll get it across the line. I have to believe that. So in today's episode, we've talked about some of those decorum rules, respectful conduct adherence to procedure dress code, prohibition of certain behaviors, and mainly maintaining order. And I've also given you kind of a brightspot a counterpoint to all of the negativity you see when it comes to Congress and give you the hope that if you're seeing something, I guarantee you there are 10 Other members that are working on something really hard and it's never going to get the light of day. Just sad, but it's true. And I just thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of On the hill podcast. If you haven't like and subscribe so that each week you're hearing another episode of what's happening in Washington. As always, you can find me on Instagram. My handle is at Katherine Getty and the podcast handle is on the Hilton's podcast. Thank you. Thank you, thank you so much for tuning in and see you next week.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai