    [House Hearing, 119 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                          OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT
                    PUBLISHING OFFICE IN A DIGITAL-FIRST ERA
    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                               COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
                                 ADMINISTRATION

                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                                January 22, 2026

                                   __________

          Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                 www.govinfo.gov
                               www.cha.house.gov
                                    __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    62-653                      WASHINGTON : 2026
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION

                        BRYAN STEIL, Wisconsin, Chairman

    LAUREL LEE, Florida, Vice Chair      JOSEPH MORELLE, New York,
    BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia                 Ranking Member
    H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia         TERRI A. SEWELL, Alabama
    GREG MURPHY, North Carolina          NORMA TORRES, California
    STEPHANIE BICE, Oklahoma             JULIE JOHNSON, Texas
    MARY MILLER, Illinois
    MIKE CAREY, Ohio

                          Mike Platt,  Staff Director
                     Jamie Fleet,  Minority Staff Director

                            C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                               Opening Statements

    Chairman Bryan Steil, Representative from the State of Wisconsin.     1
        Prepared statement of Chairman Bryan Steil...................     3
    Ranking Member Joseph Morelle, Representative from the State of
      New York.......................................................     3
        Prepared statement of Ranking Member Joseph Morelle..........     5

                                    Witness

    Hon. Hugh Halpern, director, Government Publishing Office........     6
        Prepared statement of Hon. Hugh Halpern......................     9

                            Questions for the Record

    Hon. Hugh Halpern answers to submitted questions.................    32

                                OVERSIGHT OF THE
                          GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                             IN A DIGITAL-FIRST ERA

                                  ----------

                                January 22, 2026

                     Committee on House Administration,
                                      House of Representatives,
                                                       Washington, D.C.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:06 p.m., in
    room 1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Bryan Steil
    [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Steil, Griffith, Bice, Carey,
    Morelle, and Torres.
        Staff present: Mike Platt, Staff Director; Abby Salter,
    Deputy General Counsel; Dan Durak, Professional Staff; Jessica
    Smith, Deputy Director of Oversight; Jordan Wilson, Director of
    Member Services; Kristen Monterroso, Director of Operations;
    Evan Van Orman, Professional Staff; Annemarie Cake,
    Professional Staff and Deputy Clerk; Jamie Fleet, Minority
    Staff Director; Khalil Abboud, Minority Deputy Staff Director;
    Matthew Schlesinger, Minority Senior Counsel for Oversight and
    Investigations; and Owen Reilly, Minority Senior Counsel.

        OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRYAN STEIL, CHAIRMAN OF THE
     COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM
                               WISCONSIN

        Chairman Steil. The Committee on House Administration will
    come to order.
        The title of today's hearing is ``Oversight of the
    Government Publishing Office in the Digital-First Era.''
        I note a quorum is present.
        Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any
    time.
        Also, without objection, the hearing record will remain
    open for five legislative days so Members may submit any
    materials they wish to be included therein.
        Thank you, Ranking Member Morelle, Members of the
    Committee, and our witness, for participating in today's
    hearing.
        This is the first full Committee oversight hearing for GPO
    since 2020. Our purpose here today is twofold. First, to
    examine the current work of GPO, including successful
    initiatives and ongoing challenges; and second, to discuss how
    the agency is adapting to the digital-first era and evaluate
    what statutory reforms may be necessary.
        Over its 165 years, the Government Publishing Office has
    effectively delivered on its mission to provide trusted
    information from the Federal Government to the American people.
    Its vision is ``America Informed.''
        When it first opened its doors--coincidentally, the same
    day President Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861--GPO was directed
    to carry out printing authorized by Congress, Federal agencies,
    and the courts.
        Today, their role is broader. Today, 1,600 employees at GPO
    operate distribution centers nationwide to fulfill the
    publishing needs of every branch of Government.
        One great example is the passport book, which GPO has
    produced for the State Department for a hundred years. It also
    produces credentials for agencies and products used for
    Presidential inaugurations and the State of the Union address.
        As the agency develops plans to use the latest
    technologies, we will explore how GPO is adapting its business
    operations to meet customer needs.
        Another example of GPO's expanded mission is the Federal
    Depository Library Program. Formally established by Congress in
    1962, this program provides nationwide public access to
    Government information by sharing published resources with a
    web of libraries across the country.
        On top of that, in recent decades GPO has transformed its
    digital operations to continue meeting the needs of people
    where they are at.
        One notable example is the website GovInfo which GPO
    maintains to provide permanent public access to Government
    information online.
        At the start of the year, GPO announced it had surpassed 15
    billion retrievals of Government information through
    GovInfo.gov.
        Finally, as a legislative branch agency, GPO also ensures
    lawmakers can effectively do their job of representing the
    American people.
        Some of their services to Congress include printing and
    publishing committee reports, reviewing and editing legislative
    text prior to online publication, and daily publication of the
    Congressional Record, which documents the proceedings and
    debates of this body for history.
        While GPO has effectively performed and adapted to needs
    over its 165-year history, changes are undoubtedly necessary to
    keep pace with the private sector, to ensure we meet the
    evolving needs of our Government, and to continue serving the
    American people.
        In today's digital-first era, the work of the GPO has
    become more critical than ever both for the institution and for
    Government as a whole.
        Thank you for being here today. And I look forward to
    hearing your testimony, Director Halpern.
        With that, I will yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Morelle,
    for his opening statement.
        [The prepared statement of Chairman Steil follows:]

       PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
                       ADMINISTRATION BRYAN STEIL

        Thank you, Ranking Member Morelle, Members of the
    Committee, and our witness for participating in today's
    hearing. This is the first full committee oversight hearing for
    GPO since 2020. Our purpose here today is twofold.
        First, to examine the current work of GPO, including
    successful initiatives and ongoing challenges. Second, to
    discuss how the agency is adapting to the ``digital-first
    era,'' and evaluate what statutory reforms may be necessary.
    Over its 165-year history, the Government Publishing Office has
    effectively delivered on its mission to provide trusted
    information from the Federal Government to the American people.
    Its vision is ``America Informed.'' When it first opened its
    doors, coincidentally the same day President Lincoln was
    inaugurated in 1861, GPO was directed to carry out printing
    authorized by Congress, Federal agencies, and the courts.
        Today, their role is broader. Today, the 1,600 employees at
    GPO operate distribution centers nationwide to fulfill the
    publishing needs of every branch of Government. One great
    example is the passport book, which GPO has produced for the
    State Department for 100 years. It also produces credentials
    for agencies and products used for presidential inaugurations
    and the State of the Union address.
        As the agency develops plans to use the latest
    technologies, we will explore how GPO is adapting its business
    operations to meet customer needs. Another example of GPO's
    expanded mission is the Federal Depository Library Program.
    Formally established by Congress in 1962, this program provides
    nationwide public access to Government information by sharing
    published resources with a web of libraries across the country.
        On top of that, in recent decades GPO has transformed its
    digital operations to continue meeting the people where they
    are. One notable example is the website GovInfo, which GPO
    maintains to provide permanent public access to Government
    information online.
        At the start of this year, GPO announced they had surpassed
    15 billion retrievals of Government information through
    GovInfo.gov. Finally, as a Legislative Branch agency, GPO also
    ensures lawmakers can effectively do their job of representing
    the American people.
        Some of their services to Congress include printing and
    publishing committee reports, reviewing and editing legislative
    text prior to online publication, and daily publication of the
    Congressional Record, which documents the proceedings and
    debates of this body for history. While GPO has effectively
    performed and adapted to needs over its 165-year history,
    changes are undoubtedly necessary to keep pace with the private
    sector, to ensure we meet the evolving needs of our Government,
    and to continue serving the American people.
        In today's digital-first era, the work of GPO has become
    more critical than ever, both for this institution, and for
    Government as a whole. Thank you for being here today and I
    look forward to hearing your testimony, Director Halpern.

    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH MORELLE, RANKING MEMBER OF THE
     COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM
                                NEW YORK

        Mr. Morelle. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for your
    opening comments, and thanks for calling this hearing together.
        Again, welcome back to your old stomping grounds, Director
    Halpern. It is nice to see you once again.
        Under the heading--we used to say this in Albany all the
    time--under the heading of ``everything has been said but not
    by everybody,'' let me make a few comments.
        I was going to begin my remarks by talking about March 4,
    1861, that consequential day, not only Abraham Lincoln's
    inauguration, but I have been scooped on that, the beginning of
    the Congressional Printing Office.
        And so I appreciate that, the long history, and one of our
    true institutional treasures. I think we believe that. And I
    appreciate all the comments by the chair that I agree with
    relative to the incredible work you do. We have relied for that
    165 years on GPO to carry out our Article I responsibilities
    and duties.
        Ensuring over the decades that it has grown into the
    world's largest and most celebrated information organization
    takes the support and the partnership of Congress.
        And I think, as you noted, the Government Publishing Office
    now. I do not know why we still say Printing Office. I
    apologize for that. I should get more with the 21st century.
        It does recognize it is a modern digital-first publishing
    service for all three branches, and it is also, remarkably, a
    largely self-funded agency, which is something I think most
    taxpayers would be happy to hear.
        You continue to produce, as the chair mentioned, essential
    printed materials like the Congressional Record, Federal
    Register, and U.S. passports, and now provides ebooks, digital
    publishing services, mobile access, and so much more--
    indicative of the way that Americans get their information now.
    You have kept with the times and continue to adapt to that.
        And those innovations have lowered costs, increased
    efficiency, and strengthened public access--still so vital,
    public access to Government information--all saving taxpayers
    money while enhancing that transparency and that
    accountability.
        And particularly, I think, in an era marked by
    misinformation, by fractured media, coordinated efforts to
    distort the public record, the role of trusted Government,
    authoritative information is indispensable, which is why your
    mission, keeping America informed, has never mattered more.
        The chair mentioned the Federal Depository Library Program
    and how important that is to the more than a thousand, I think,
    depository libraries across the country that you serve, which
    includes--I will just make a public service announcement for
    the Rochester Public Library that I am privileged to represent,
    as well as the Rush Rhees Library at the University of
    Rochester.
        Those are two of those libraries that provide the public in
    my community with a vast and constantly evolving body of
    information from the Government--newly issued and revised
    documents to resources on health, careers, military, science,
    and so much more.
        In addition, the FDLP plays a critical continuity of
    Government role by ensuring Federal information is preserved
    and available in disperse locations, so it is distributed
    information.
        I am interested in hearing today about the challenges you
    may face in administering the program as digital materials
    become predominant, difficulties depository libraries may
    encounter in managing tangible collections that have outgrown
    their physical space--obviously something to be concerned
    about--and recommendations to further modernize the programs
    that you may have.
        And I look forward to discussing, I think, some of the
    broader challenges you may face. Workforce, I assume, is
    skewing older, and I am interested in hearing about plans to
    ensure critical skills and institutional knowledge are
    successfully passed on and preserved to the next generation.
        The Committee, particularly the Subcommittee on
    Modernization and Innovation, which my good friend Mrs. Bice
    leads, has spent time discussing how increasing the volume of
    legislation introduced each Congress strains legislative
    capacity. I am curious whether or not efforts to alleviate that
    strain, such as allowing Members to waive GPO proofreading,
    have been effective.
        The Committee has also spent--and I will close with this--
    has spent a significant time examining the impact of the Loper
    Bright decision on institutional capacity.
        And as Congress is required to draft legislation that is
    more specific, more technical, more complex, more detailed,
    needing more and more information, I would welcome your
    perspective, Mr. Director, on the challenges that may pose for
    the GPO as we go through and enter into that sort of new era.
        Once again, thank you to you and your staff, thank you for
    being here today, thanks for all that you do.
        And certainly thank you to the Chairman for holding this
    important hearing.
        I yield back.
        [The prepared statement of Ranking Member Morelle follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF RANKING MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
                     ADMINISTRATION JOSEPH MORELLE

        Under the heading--we used to say this in Albany all the
    time--under the heading of ``everything has been said but not
    by everybody,'' let me make a few comments.
        I was going to begin my remarks by talking about March 4,
    1861, that consequential day, not only Abraham Lincoln's
    inauguration, but I have been scooped on that, the beginning of
    the Congressional Printing Office. And so I appreciate that,
    the long history, and one of our true institutional treasures.
    I think we believe that. And I appreciate all the comments by
    the chair that I agree with relative to the incredible work you
    do. We have relied for that 165 years on GPO to carry out our
    Article I responsibilities and duties.
        Ensuring over the decades that it has grown into the
    world's largest and most celebrated information organization
    takes the support and the partnership of Congress. And I think,
    as you noted, the Government Publishing Office now. I do not
    know why we still say Printing Office. I apologize for that. I
    should get more with the 21st century. It does recognize it is
    a modern digital first publishing service for all three
    branches, and it is also, remarkably, a largely self-funded
    agency, which is something I think most taxpayers would be
    happy to hear.
        You continue to produce, as the chair mentioned, essential
    printed materials like the Congressional Record, Federal
    Register, and U.S. passports, and now provides ebooks, digital
    publishing services, mobile access, and so much more--
    indicative of the way that Americans get their information now.
    You have kept with the times and continue to adapt to that. And
    those innovations have lowered costs, increased efficiency, and
    strengthened public access--still so vital, public access to
    Government information--all saving taxpayers money while
    enhancing that transparency and that accountability. And
    particularly, I think, in an era marked by misinformation, by
    fractured media, coordinated efforts to distort the public
    record, the role of trusted Government, authoritative
    information is indispensable, which is why your mission,
    keeping America informed, has never mattered more.
        The chair mentioned the Federal Depository Library Program
    and how important that is to the more than a thousand, I think,
    depository libraries across the country that you serve, which
    includes--I will just make a public service announcement for
    the Rochester Public Library that I am privileged to represent,
    as well as the Rush Rhees Library at the University of
    Rochester.
        Those are two of those libraries that provide the public in
    my community with a vast and constantly evolving body of
    information from the Government--newly issued and revised
    documents to resources on health, careers, military, science,
    and so much more. In addition, the FDLP plays a critical
    continuity of Government role by ensuring Federal information
    is preserved and available in disperse locations, so it is
    distributed information. I am interested in hearing today about
    the challenges you may face in administering the program as
    digital materials become predominant, difficulties depository
    libraries may encounter in managing tangible collections that
    have outgrown their physical space--obviously something to be
    concerned about--and recommendations to further modernize the
    programs that you may have.
        And I look forward to discussing, I think, some of the
    broader challenges you may face. Workforce, I assume, is
    skewing older, and I am interested in hearing about plans to
    ensure critical skills and institutional knowledge are
    successfully passed on and preserved to the next generation.
        The Committee, particularly the Subcommittee on
    Modernization and Innovation, which my good friend Mrs. Bice
    leads, has spent time discussing how increasing the volume of
    legislation introduced each Congress strains legislative
    capacity.
        I am curious whether or not efforts to alleviate that
    strain, such as allowing Members to waive GPO proofreading,
    have been effective. The Committee has also spent--and I will
    close with this--has spent a significant time examining the
    impact of the Loper Bright decision on institutional capacity.
    And as Congress is required to draft legislation that is more
    specific, more technical, more complex, more detailed, needing
    more and more information, I would welcome your perspective,
    Mr. Director, on the challenges that may pose for the GPO as we
    go through and enter into that sort of new era.

        Chairman Steil. Always a Rochester plug, but a Rochester
    library plug today. That was well done.
        Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
        Without objection, all Members' opening statements will be
    made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the
    Committee clerk by 5 p.m. today.
        As our witness today, we have Hugh Halpern, Director of
    GPO. Director Halpern was nominated by President Trump and
    confirmed by the Senate in December 2019. Prior to that role,
    he was director of floor operations for then-Speaker Ryan and
    served on half a dozen committees during his 30 years of
    service to the House.
        We are pleased to have you back with us today in the House.
    Director Halpern, you are now recognized for 5 minutes to
    provide your opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH HALPERN, DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING
                                 OFFICE

        Mr. Halpern. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
    Member Morelle, all of the Members of the Committee. I am
    pleased to appear back in my old stomping grounds here in the
    House.
        I am here on behalf of GPO's 1,625 craftspeople and
    professionals, all of whom work to support Congress and our
    vision of an ``America Informed.''
        As the Chairman mentioned, this is a big year for GPO.
    Along with the Nation's 250th birthday, GPO turns 165, and we
    celebrate a century of producing the U.S. passport.
        As you know, GPO runs like a business and we charge our
    customers for the work we do. I am pleased to announce that we
    have just successfully completed our annual financial statement
    audit, and that shows that we ended Fiscal Year 2025 with total
    revenue of just over $1.3 billion.
        While we have a diverse portfolio product supporting all
    three branches of Government, I am focusing my remarks today on
    the work we do for Congress.
        When people think of GPO, they often picture us as a
    building filled with printing and binding equipment. While we
    are, most of the work we do for Congress is essentially
    document conversion. We receive paper documents, typically with
    a basic electronic file, and we need to convert them into
    easily accessible structured data files that can be distributed
    both digitally and in print. That is where our work is. It is
    not in the printed output.
        Unfortunately, GPO's software stack, which Congress also
    uses to produce its own official documents, has not kept pace.
    Replacing our legacy composition engine with our new XPub
    product will allow us to round trip electronic files in the
    legislative branch's native XML format. We are making progress
    with this transition.
        Now, when I worked in the House, I was always told that
    XPub was 2 years away. That was more than 8 years ago. At the
    risk of being my own punchline, I am pleased to report that we
    are in the user testing phase of our release for bills,
    resolutions, and amendments, and we hope to move to production
    by the end of the calendar year.
        It is a very complicated project with multiple House and
    Senate dependencies, but everybody is working together to bring
    it in for a landing.
        One area where I am pleased to report that we have a new
    product available today is our Model Context Protocol server
    for GovInfo, our trusted digital repository for Government
    information.
        Our MCP server, which is today in public preview, will
    allow LLMs and other AI models to access GovInfo without having
    to separately train on it. That means when it is integrated
    with these services, you can ask Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or
    Gemini your question and it can respond with up-to-date,
    accurate Government information.
        We believe that this is a far better approach than building
    our own chat interface for GovInfo. We are really excited to
    see what the community can do with these new capabilities.
        GPO's single biggest challenge is the age of its workforce.
    Our median age is 54. The Federal average is 47. When I started
    at GPO at the end of 2019, almost half of the agency was
    eligible to retire in 2027.
        The good news is we have already pushed that cliff back to
    2030 through targeted recruiting, apprenticeships, on-the-job
    training, and a recent graduate program.
        We are going to continue investing in our next generation
    to ensure that we have the people we need to deliver for our
    customers. That also means we have got to work smarter with the
    people we have.
        Let me give you one example related to our chronic backlog
    in processing bills.
        With the support of the Modernization and Innovation
    Subcommittee, under the leadership of Chair Bice and Ranking
    Member Torres, we created a partnership with the Clerk and
    provided Members with the option to opt out of having their
    bills proofread by GPO.
        While I still believe that our proofreading process yields
    a higher-quality product, we have seen that we can produce
    these bills much more quickly if a Member is willing to accept
    that risk.
        Only about 9 percent of our bills are processed using this
    option, but among those that are, we can generally batch
    process them in as little as 20 minutes and quickly move them
    into production, often making them available on the next day.
        Last, just a brief note. The GPO's statutes need to be
    updated. They were written for the world of print, not our
    digital present, and I look forward to working with the
    Committee to ensure that our statutes facilitate and do not
    impede our work.
        Since I last appeared here, a great deal has changed. In
    that time, we have seen nearly a 400-percent increase in
    monthly GovInfo retrievals and our annual passport production
    has nearly doubled. Our gross revenue is up over $392 million
    in that same period. None of that would have been possible
    without the support of this Committee.
        Chairman Steil, Ranking Member Morelle, and Members of the
    Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am
    open to whatever questions you may have.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Halpern follows:]

                PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH HALPERN
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Chairman Steil. Thank you very much, Director.
        I will begin our questions, followed by the Ranking Member.
    I recognize myself for 5 minutes.
        I want to start off with GPO's role for a hundred years in
    the passport operation. As we look back a handful of years ago,
    there were significant delays as it relates to passports.
    Obviously, there is a role of the State Department, GPO.
        Was part of that delay the result of GPO technology? Could
    you provide a little bit of color as to what that delay was and
    how some of that has already been solved in ways that GPO is
    analyzing a potential future increase in the demand for
    passports?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.
        It is important to remember GPO produces the blank
    passports. The State Department then adjudicates and
    personalizes. During my tenure, supply has never been a real
    issue in backlogs.
        That said, the State Department keeps increasing their
    orders. This year it is a record 27 million. We are on track to
    provide that number of passports this year to the State
    Department.
        We have boosted our capabilities to deliver passports to
    the processing centers in a timely fashion. For instance, we
    just opened up a new distribution facility adjacent to our
    Pueblo distribution facility where we can ensure that West
    Coast processing facilities will be within 1 day's delivery
    time for passports, much like East Coast and southern
    processing centers.
        We continue to work with our State Department customer to
    make sure that we deliver the supplies they need.
        Chairman Steil. I am going to bring you all the way down.
    You think, from the supply side of GPO, you think you can meet
    the demand that is there.
        Mr. Halpern. We believe we can.
        Chairman Steil. OK.
        Mr. Halpern. We are continuing to hire folks. We need to
    make sure that we have----
        Chairman Steil. Understood. Only cognizant of the time. We
    could go for 5 hours talking about it. That is helpful to know
    as I think making sure that these are processed quickly is
    really important.
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.
        Chairman Steil. Let me shift gears a little bit into the
    business model.
        Uniquely, GPO is largely self-funded, about a 90/10 ratio,
    10 percent appropriated by Congress, 90 percent billing your
    customers, if you will.
        As you look out at the change in the business model from
    printing into more of a digital framework, do you think you can
    maintain that balance? Can you improve upon that balance? How
    do you look out in the future?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.
        The short answer is that our pricing structure is focused
    on what it takes for us to produce the entire item. Let me give
    you an example. The Congressional Record is a good example.
        We bill that at several hundred dollars per page, and that
    includes everything from doing the document conversion to
    laying it out to ultimately producing it online and in its
    tangible format. One price covers everything. That has worked
    really, really well for us. We adjust those prices as we need
    to.
        We realize that both Congress and some of our executive
    branch customers are increasingly price conscious. We are
    looking for new investments in technology and other things to
    drive those costs down.
        Chairman Steil. With my 90 seconds remaining, I want to
    touch base on that technology. Some of what you talked about
    earlier I think was quite interesting about how you are
    converting hard text into digital format.
        Obviously, AI has a huge opportunity and just broadly
    technology writ large. When we think about that conversion
    process, what it looked like even five or 10 years ago, we are
    light years ahead of where we were.
        Do you utilize AI? Do you think you have the technology
    needed? How do you think that will transform GPO?
        Mr. Halpern. We use machine learning and associated
    technologies in a variety of different places. We are looking
    very closely at solutions.
        One thing that we have deployed recently is a technology
    called Schematron which can figure out if our structured data
    files are internally consistent and flag problems before they
    become bigger problems.
        We still have not found a good substitute for a GPO
    proofreader. They have been doing this work for years. They
    know how you talk and they know what that is supposed to look
    like. Their job is to make sure that they are faithfully
    presenting your remarks in the Congressional Record or in your
    bill or whatever, and we have not found a machine that can do
    that as well as our well-trained folks yet.
        I think we are open to looking at a mix of technologies
    that can really let our people do the work they do best and try
    and clear out some of that more routine scut work.
        Chairman Steil. Very good. Thank you very much, Director.
    Thanks for being here. Welcome back to the House.
        Mr. Halpern. Thank you.
        Chairman Steil. I yield back.
        I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Morelle, for
    questions.
        Mr. Morelle. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
        In your testimony, you talk about Title 44, which governs
    much of GPO's activity, which I think, as you said, was written
    for the age of print and no longer reflects how GPO operates
    today.
        With much of our publications needing to move to digital
    formats, are there statutory printing obligations that you
    currently have which you think no longer serve your mission or
    customers that we should be thinking about?
        Mr. Halpern. The way GPO is structured and the way Title 44
    is structured is GPO is governed by the Joint Committee on
    Printing, which this year is chaired by the Senate, but in the
    past it alternates between the House and the Senate.
        The JCP, working with GPO, has found ways to sort of, as I
    like to put it, operate in the liminal spaces of our statute,
    so that we can usually find ways to get around some of the more
    rigid parts of Title 44.
        A good example is the number of printed copies we are
    supposed to make is written in statute. That does not make any
    sense anymore. Addressing what we call the usual number to
    reflect the current practice where we work closely with JCP and
    the Clerk and the Secretary of the Senate to make sure that we
    are not overproducing things that people do not need.
        We have submitted to this Committee and to the Senate a
    series of legislative proposals, some big, some very small, and
    we are happy to talk with you all about what the right package
    there looks like.
        Mr. Morelle. Well, and I would certainly defer to the
    Subcommittee chair on Modernization and the Ranking Member,
    Mrs. Torres, to take those up.
        I think it is interesting, not only here in Washington, but
    my prior life in the State legislature in New York, how many
    things get written into statute that make no sense. I mean,
    when you think about it over time, it is like every time we
    have to change a number, we have to go back and rewrite or
    change the law and it does become outmoded. There are probably
    better ways to do it.
        I would certainly, Mr. Chair, look forward to working with
    you and the Subcommittee chair and Ranking Member to make that
    easier.
        If you were asked what is one legislative change for the
    Committee to prioritize as it relates to GPO, are there any
    thoughts that you have about ways we can continue to serve the
    mission but make it easier, more effective, more efficient, or
    things that you just think, ``OK, why do we have to do it this
    way?''
        Mr. Halpern. There are a number of changes, one of which--a
    good example is----
        Mr. Morelle. I would like a good example. Do not give me a
    bad example.
        Mr. Halpern. I have got plenty of bad ones.
        Mr. Morelle. Give me a good one.
        Mr. Halpern. A good example would be the fact that our
    statutes do not spell out the fact that we can provide
    publishing services in addition to printing services for a lot
    of our customers.
        The addition of just that one word vastly expands what we
    can provide our personnel, whether it is our congressional
    customers or our executive branch customers, because we are not
    doing as much printing anymore.
        Really what we are doing is helping folks prepare these
    documents. At the end of the day, if you need a set number of
    printed copies, we have got the machinery to do that.
        That is not the No. 1 thing we do anymore.
        Mr. Morelle. Got it. OK. That is very helpful.
        I think, again, I would defer to my colleagues, but I think
    we are all looking for ways to continue the mission and make
    sure that at the end of the day the most important thing is
    that the information is made available to taxpayers and the
    citizens so that they can continue to feel like they have
    transparency and access to the Government.
        It is no--there is no secret that when Abe Lincoln was
    inaugurated 165 years ago today, and the--or not today, this
    next month, March--and the Government Printing Office, it was
    just different, done differently, and you could not foresee the
    world as it is today. We want to make sure we keep present and
    keep active.
        I have other questions that related to your comments to
    ``bolt on'' to digital capabilities in the absence of formed
    law, but I think I will defer. We can have further
    conversations.
        In the interest of time and the fact that I have 6 seconds
    left, let me just conclude by thanking you again for being
    here, for your leadership, your team.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to ask some
    questions. I yield back.
        Chairman Steil. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
        The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Griffith, is recognized
    for his 5 minutes.
        Mr. Griffith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I greatly
    appreciate it.
        Mr. Halpern, good to see you.
        Mr. Halpern. You too, sir.
        Mr. Griffith. Hope you are doing well.
        Mr. Halpern. Thank you.
        Mr. Griffith. Earlier this Congress, I introduced H.R.
    6028, the Legislative Branch Agencies Clarification Act. One of
    the things that the bill does is it transfers the power to
    appoint the Director of the GPO from the President to a
    congressional commission consisting of House and Senate
    leadership as well as the chairs of the House Administration
    Committee and the Senate Rules Committee.
        Do you agree with me that these changes would help
    strengthen transparency, continuity, and accountability at GPO
    compared to the current appointment process?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.
        The GPO provisions in your bill actually do three things,
    and they are all very important.
        First is, as you mentioned, it addresses the constitutional
    issues surrounding the appointment of the Director.
        There are two other constitutional issues where we have
    been sort of operating in that liminal space between the
    executive and legislative.
        One is what we call the print mandate, the requirement that
    people use GPO. The executive branch has said that is
    unconstitutional since the mid-1980's. We have sort of skirted
    around that and we kind of ignore it these days, but it is
    still on the books.
        The last place, which in my opinion is just as important as
    the appointment of the Director, is our personnel system.
    Through sort of a fluke from President Harding--I believe it
    was President Harding, maybe it was President Cleveland--but by
    executive order they placed GPO's personnel system under what
    today is OPM. I think that provides the same kinds of
    constitutional conflicts that we get from the print mandate and
    others.
        I believe that the series of reforms you have got in your
    bill would serve GPO well into the future, both with respect to
    our obligations to the legislative branch but to all of the
    other work we do as well.
        Mr. Griffith. I appreciate that. We are going to blame it
    on Harding because Coolidge's secretary, which would now be the
    chief of staff, was a former Congressman from the Ninth
    Congressional District of Virginia.
        Mr. Halpern. There you go.
        Mr. Griffith. It is going to be Harding's fault, not
    Coolidge's. I am just saying.
        That said, let me show my ignorance on something, because I
    am always trying to learn stuff.
        I heard and was interested in your testimony where you said
    that the processing bills without proofreading. Is that before
    it comes to me for me to file?
        Mr. Halpern. No, sir.
        Mr. Griffith. It is after that.
        Mr. Halpern. What happens today for a bill that goes
    through the normal process is we receive from the Clerk the----
        Mr. Griffith. After passage.
        Mr. Halpern. After introduction.
        Mr. Griffith. After introduction. OK.
        Mr. Halpern. We receive the paper version, the manuscript,
    from the Clerk. We also usually, but not always, get an
    electronic file that goes with it. If you went to Leg Counsel,
    that is great for us, because we get a really good electronic
    file. Sometimes we only get a Word file. It does not help us
    all that much.
        My team's job is to make sure that that paper, because that
    is the official document of record, matches that electronic
    file.
        Mr. Griffith. OK.
        Mr. Halpern. We often have questions. Sometimes there is a
    discrepancy between the two, or sometimes, because my folks
    look at literally thousands of bills a week, they are pretty
    good at going, ``Did you actually mean to leave off three zeros
    in this figure?''
        Mr. Griffith. If we use the AI concept, is there some way
    that if there is a glitch--because every now and then there
    will be--that we can catch that?
        Mr. Halpern. We hope so. I have got high faith in my team
    that we are going to catch stuff.
        There is a lot of stuff like capitalization or how you
    structure some of these typographic styles. That stuff we can
    probably get through some sort of automated system.
        It is that more refined view where the guys who proofread--
    guys and gals who proofread bills--they are kind of like well-
    trained paralegals. They know what they are looking at. Free
    them up to see if they can spot the bigger mistakes.
        Mr. Griffith. My time is running out.
        Would you go back and double-check AI every so often?
        Mr. Halpern. Yes. I think we would----
        Mr. Griffith. Samples? Core samples?
        Mr. Halpern [continuing]. we would have first cut on low-
    level stuff and then have our people----
        Mr. Griffith. I am sure Mrs. Bice is much better versed on
    this, but I think it is a good plan. I just wanted to make sure
    that I understood exactly what it was, because if it is before
    it is introduced, I am proofreading it.
        Mr. Halpern. Right. Absolutely.
        Mr. Griffith. I yield back.
        Chairman Steil. The gentleman yields back.
        The gentlewoman from California, whose home district will
    be about a hundred degrees warmer than mine this weekend,
    Representative Torres is recognized.
        Mrs. Torres. Come to my district. Always invited.
        Chairman, I think this is one of the best meetings that we
    have had where there is, like, you have already asked all my
    questions, and it is really great.
        I want to follow up on the passport question that the
    Chairman asked. If we have a surge, all of us are encouraging
    our constituents to apply for their American passport. If we
    have a surge, are you prepared to deal with that?
        Mr. Halpern. We believe we are.
        Mrs. Torres. OK.
        Mr. Halpern. We manufacture passports in two locations, one
    here in D.C., right on the other side of Union Station, and the
    other in Stennis in Mississippi.
        Both of those facilities run most of the week. Stennis runs
    basically all day, every day. We found it is more efficient to
    run four 10-hour days with our folks. We run two of those
    shifts a day. Then in Stennis we also run a weekend shift, a
    Friday, Saturday, Sunday shift.
        Mrs. Torres. OK. That could be scaled up if needed.
        Mr. Halpern. Right. Right.
        Mrs. Torres. OK.
        Mr. Halpern. We can hire more people to do that.
        At some point we will just run into a--our machines will
    have a top-level capacity. We are in the process of replacing
    some of those machines with more modern equipment that will
    have better uptime, better processing speeds, all in
    preparation for the next version of the passport when State is
    ready to move forward with that.
        Mrs. Torres. OK. As you know, Modernization Chair Bice and
    I are working on how to best modernize the legislative branch
    systems, including GPO.
        I am concerned that Congress is asking you to serve the
    public with a budget that has not kept pace with how people
    access information anymore. The Fiscal Year 2026 funding level
    for GPO is $800 million.
        Can you talk a little bit about your budgetary needs and
    what is it that you need?
        Mr. Halpern. Sure.
        As I mentioned, we are largely self-funded. For Congress,
    you give us about $80 million a year for those programs.
        Mrs. Torres. The price for the passports went up.
        Mr. Halpern. Price for passports went up. Just to give you
    an idea of the cost structure, it depends on the year and
    depends on quantity. We charge the State Department someplace
    between $23 and $25 dollars per book.
        Sometimes they will give us a supplemental order, an extra
    million at the end of a year. We will have already recouped all
    of our overhead costs. We can drive that individual piece down
    to basically the cost of materials and a little bit of labor.
        In terms of the work we do for Congress, we are within the
    budget that you all have given us. It is a difficult estimating
    process for us. Based on historical data, we estimate what your
    volume will be in a particular year and try and match that with
    the appropriate level we get for that.
        Where we actually run into a much tighter budgetary
    situation is with the Federal Depository Library Program. That
    is a purely appropriated program.
        The good news is we have driven down the costs of that
    program, because it is now largely digital. It is just feeding
    off of the files we are creating every day.
        With that said, we still have librarians and other really
    highly skilled professionals in that unit, and those personnel
    costs continue to increase.
        In terms of----
        Mrs. Torres. I am going to stop you there, because we are
    running out of time, and I really want you to tell our
    Members--or at least to say it out loud once more--how many
    amendments Members of Congress file.
        Mr. Halpern. I apologize, I actually do not have up-to-date
    numbers. In terms of bills, we are well up over 7,000. Last
    Congress it was almost 23,000 measures between the House and
    the Senate. Each one of those my team needs to read--it is a
    little different this year--and make sure that we are accurate.
        It is difficult work. I can give you a small recent
    example, less with a bill, but with the work we do on
    legislation.
        There was a large insert into the Congressional Record just
    a couple of weeks ago and we did not get the underlying Word
    document. All we got was a scanned version. We actually had to
    do that--we had to read that document twice.
        Mrs. Torres. Wow.
        Mr. Halpern. Once was convert that scanned document into a
    text file and make sure that that translation was accurate; and
    then engross all of the handwritten changes and things like
    that with that scanned document.
        If we are getting good files on the front end, that can
    help us speed up that process, but----
        Mrs. Torres. Thank you.
        Thank you, Chairman, for your generosity in time.
        Chairman Steil. Thank you very much. The gentlewoman yields
    back.
        The gentlewoman from Oklahoma, who is the chair of the
    Subcommittee on Modernization, who has been ingratiated into
    this issue, is recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mrs. Bice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Director Halpern, it is great to see you again.
        Mr. Halpern. Always.
        Mrs. Bice. Glad to have you with us.
        I want to also thank you for your work with the
    Modernization Subcommittee and the Clerk's Office to pilot the
    waiving proofreading option for bill introductions.
        I was able to have a little sidebar with my colleague from
    Virginia to explain sort of the reasons for the waiving of
    proofreading. I think it has been, I would say, successful in
    trying to help reduce the number of bills that you are having
    to proofread, but also getting things through the pipeline a
    bit quicker.
        Thank you for your work on that issue.
        Last year, I also introduced legislation to remove the
    printing requirement for the Constitution Annotated, CONAN, and
    replace it with a digital-only version. According to the CBO,
    replacing the print version of CONAN with the digital version,
    which is already publicly available and out there, would reduce
    the Library of Congress' operating costs by $4 million over the
    next several years.
        The Library has actually hosted CONAN on their website
    since 2019. It is easily searchable, accessible, and provides
    links to Supreme Court decisions, and it is being updated real
    time by CRS, which is incredibly important.
        Despite this, we are still spending a tremendous amount of
    money on producing hard copies of it, because it is required by
    statute. You addressed previously there are many of these areas
    that have been codified in statute that you are required to
    print, and I would love the opportunity to work with you to
    find some ways to reduce that burden.
        My assumption would--and this is the first question--be
    that many of the printed documents or books that you are
    currently producing are available online. Is that correct?
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. Almost everything is available
    online, either through GovInfo or some other fashion. Yes.
        Mrs. Bice. Great. I think there is an opportunity for us to
    be able to scale that back, still providing transparency for
    the American people if they want to read these documents, but
    saving taxpayer money because they are available digitally, and
    when the original statutes were written, that was not an
    option.
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely. If I can just sort of fill in
    there just a hair.
        One of the changes--and I cannot take credit for this, this
    was happening as I arrived at GPO--but one of the changes we
    made was shifting from traditional offset printing to digital
    inkjet technology for a lot of our more routine documents.
        Offset printing requires large quantities to be economical.
    That first copy that comes off of the press costs you thousands
    of dollars and everything else is just pennies, whereas digital
    inkjet, it is a per copy cost. You are paying for ink and
    materials and that machine.
        As a result, a digital inkjet press does not care whether
    we are printing 10 copies of something or 10,000 copies of
    something.
        That allows our process to be a lot more economical, a lot
    more automated, and really help drive down those costs, and we
    are always looking for technologies that will enable us to do
    things like that.
        Mrs. Bice. What would you say is the percentage of
    documents that are now being printed using digital rather than
    offset?
        Mr. Halpern. I can get you that exact number. It is most of
    our daily publications, so the Congressional Record, Federal
    Register, CFRs.
        We are getting ready to retire one of our big offset
    presses that we purchased about 10 years ago, because we can
    supplement all of the work that we were doing.
        That machine gets used for hearings, big reports, that kind
    of thing. We can do all of that through digital inkjet and the
    cost is a lot lower.
        Mrs. Bice. I like saving taxpayer money, so it is great to
    hear that.
        Let me pivot, if I may, to your website talks about ten
    different use cases for AI that are being utilized, piloted, or
    currently under review, and as the Subcommittee on
    Modernization, that is something that we are looking at. How do
    we properly and responsibly bring AI into the legislative
    discussion here and be able to utilize it?
        Our offices are actually adopting Microsoft Copilot to be
    able to allow for speedy access to information through email or
    calendar review and utilizing AI.
        Talk a little bit about what you are doing on the AI front.
        Mr. Halpern. Sure.
        It is probably not a lot different than what the House is
    doing sort of on the administrative side. For instance, we are
    using Copilot to help draft contract terms for our acquisitions
    professionals. Again, need a human being on the other side of
    that to make sure you are doing it right. I got a lot of
    lawyers who need to make sure that we are----
        Mrs. Bice. Do not want to lose their job?
        Mr. Halpern. Exactly. They also need to make sure we are
    getting this right, because the cost on the other side if we do
    not get it right can be big.
        Things like that. Using it for internal administrative
    stuff. I will fully tell you, when it comes time for annual
    reviews and I get pages and pages and pages of stuff, I am
    like, ``Hey, Copilot, can you put this into a couple of
    paragraphs for me to stick in the form so that we capture
    this,'' and it does a pretty good job of that.
        We are also looking to use AI tools to help with our
    cataloguing activities with the Federal Depository Library
    Program.
        We still need good, experienced librarians and catalogers
    to get that work done. If we can--just like I was talking about
    with bills--if we can get the machine to do the more
    rudimentary, the sort of initial tasks, and then free up our
    people to do the work that they need to do, that is really the
    best use of this technology.
        Mrs. Bice. Thank you so much for being with us this
    afternoon, Dr. Halpern.
        With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        Chairman Steil. The gentlewoman yields back.
        We believe one more Member is literally outside the door,
    so we are going to pause for 30 seconds with the blessing of
    the Ranking Member. If he is here, we will continue. If he is
    not, we will wrap up. We will just hold for just a moment.
        [Pause.]
        Mr. Halpern. I am used to this from my days running the
    floor.
        Chairman Steil. As director of House operations, this would
    be called a regular Thursday in your book.
        Mr. Halpern. I have heard more than one time people yelling
    ``one more'' from the back of the chamber.
        Mr. Morelle. I apologize, I do have to leave. I do want to
    thank you again.
        Mr. Halpern. Absolutely.
        Mr. Morelle. I look forward to staying in touch.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        Chairman Steil. Thank you, Ranking Member.
        Not that any of us have too many things to do on a day
    where they have moved votes up from yesterday due to the
    weather, so everybody is getting a little bit double booked
    this afternoon. We appreciate everybody bearing with.
        We will now recognize the gentleman who is probably out of
    breath from a short jog across campus, Mr. Carey, for 5
    minutes.
        Mr. Carey. Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate your indulgence.
    There is a little bit of a line outside the Ways and Means
    Committee, as you can imagine.
        It has been truly my honor to support our Chairwoman Bice
    in her initiatives to modernize the House through the efforts
    of the Modernization Committee, and a significant aspect of our
    work is the implementation of the AI technologies for
    congressional offices and administrative staff.
        Breathe.
        In this regard, Chairwoman Bice and I are constantly
    looking to understand how other Government offices are
    incorporating AI and machine learning systems into their daily
    operations.
        Which brings me to the GPO's Model Context Protocol, or the
    MCP.
        The Model Context Protocol is an open-source standard that
    allows connecting artificial intelligence applications to
    external systems.
        In short, the public can use this protocol to examine the
    troves of data and better understand Government information.
        Can you share a little bit more about this development, and
    as you share that, maybe explain kind of in layman's terms so
    people can understand exactly what that--as you are describing
    what you are doing, describe what it means.
        Mr. Halpern. Sure.
        The Model Context Protocol--and I will preface this with I
    am not an expert in constructing APIs and these similar kinds
    of things, but I will do my best.
        The Model Context Protocol is an avenue in for these other
    kinds of LLMs and other kinds of AI models so that they can
    utilize our depository of data and use it without having to
    constantly train on it ahead of time.
        It is a lot more efficient, particularly for a dataset that
    changes literally every day, multiple times a day. Every time
    we upload a new addition of the Congressional Record or a new
    group of bills that have been introduced the day before, that
    dataset changes.
        This enables your AI tool, whether it is Claude or Gemini
    or ChatGPT or whatever, it gives those tools a root into our
    dataset so that it can effectively query that dataset, find the
    answers it is looking for, and then present that back.
        Everybody was talking about at the beginning of sort of
    this AI revolution, like, what chatbot are we going to adopt
    for GovInfo, and that is not the best use of our resources,
    because folks on the outside are going to be a lot smarter
    about this than we can be.
        Mr. Carey. I appreciate that.
        I know we only have a minute 44, and, obviously, your role
    in the processing and publishing of bill texts that are online
    and I think--and, obviously, you worked on the Hill, as many of
    us have over the years, whether in this capacity or at the
    staff level.
        One of the things that I have found, that it is very easy
    to get the bill text, but to upload--and I am sure this is
    complicated--what exactly are kind of the synopsis of the bill.
        Then I was finding just the other night trying to put
    together some remarks as related to blockchain and bitcoin and
    the complexities therein, even when you have a breakdown, it
    gets to be more complicated.
        One of the things that I have discussed with our team is
    the possibility of somehow--and I know most of these are all
    verbal--but somehow a visual application as it relates to the
    structure and the contents of a particular piece of legislation
    and vis-a-vis also the synopsis of that legislation.
        In going through some of the things that you have done--and
    I know I am cutting into your time--but it is something that I
    want to continue to work on, my team will be working with you
    on that.
        I appreciate you coming back to your old stomping grounds
    and look forward to working with you in the future.
        Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for indulging me to be in
    two places at once. With that, I yield back.
        Chairman Steil. The gentleman yields back. It is the only
    thing no one can do, be in two places at one time, although
    sometimes we wish we could.
        Appreciate everyone's participation.
        I want to thank you, Director, for coming before us today.
    The Members of the Committee may have some additional questions
    for you, and we ask that you please respond to those questions
    in writing.
        Without objection, each Member will have five legislative
    days to insert additional material into the record to revise
    and extend their remarks.
        There being no further business, I thank the Members for
    their participation.
        Without objection, the Committee stands adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 2:58 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

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