The new Democratic leadership in Congress is urging transparency as a primary tool to reform the legislative process. According to statements from incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the leadership is planning several new rules and pieces of legislation on tracking earmarks, requiring time to read proposed legislation, and media access to conference committee activities - all with a central theme of increased congressional transparency.

After the Jack Abrahmoff, Duke Cunningham, and Tom DeLay scandals, the flow of money into and out of government are likely to be a major focus of the Democrats’ reform efforts. Pelosi and Reid have announced that rules to diminish lobbyists' influence will be among the first items addressed in January. Included in the proposed rules are requirements that earmarks, line items in appropriations bills that members of Congress designate for specific projects in their districts, be identified with the name of the sponsoring member. The proposed earmarks would then have to be cleared by policymaking committees before being sent to the Appropriations Committee for approval. The expectation of such requirements is that the disclosure will shame legislators from proposing or fighting hard to protect wasteful, inappropriate pork projects, while leaving the earmark funding option for worthwhile programs that members are willing to publicly advocate.

Another Democratic proposal would give legislators and the public more time to read and evaluate legislation before a vote. The expectation is that the additional time will allow congressional offices, public interest groups, and members of the media to review proposed bills and identify problematic and inappropriate provisions. The expected end result would be fewer bills that contain unread provisions being fast-tracked through the legislative process. A prime example of this type of activity was the passage of the USA Patriot Act of 2001, a bill several hundred pages long that included provisions that have had sweeping impacts on civil liberties. Congress voted on the bill just hours after the final wording was printed. Later, some members of Congress apologized for voting for the USA Patriot Act without having time to read the entire bill.

As part of their initiative to cleanse Congress of corruption, Pelosi and Reid have announced that conference committees in the 110th Congress will be open to the media. Introducing transparency to the conference committee process may reduce conferees' incentives to strike provisions which passed both chambers of Congress and tack on unrelated language or provisions that were not considered in either chamber.

Shrouded in secrecy, the House-Senate conference committees that form when different bills pass the two chambers of Congress have been sources of late-night deals which often succumb to the demands of House and Senate leadership and powerful interest groups. For instance, the Democrats were essentially shut out of the conference committee negotiations on the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill included a provision to allow the purchase of drugs from other countries at lower prices, but this language was stripped from the final bill by conference committee members.