Secrecy‑for‑Compromise Tradeoff

Restoring confidential committee bargaining can increase the probability of bipartisan, durable compromises by reducing audience‑driven incentives that punish dealmaking. But the modern media ecosystem and disclosure risks (leaks, clips, replay) create asymmetric costs: secrecy may enable deals yet also magnify selective outrage when confidentiality is broken. — Resolving this trade‑off matters for democratic legitimacy and legislative effectiveness because choices about procedural secrecy determine whether Congress can solve long‑term problems or only perform for the camera.