The Hill News

The House Majority Transition Team met for nearly three hours on Monday night, brushing up on the rules of the lower chamber, before a mammoth, day-long session set for Tuesday, during which they will figure out how to change House rules.

The discussion among the newly-appointed members of the team, announced earlier in the day, was "terrific," according to a member who participated in the night-time session. The meeting took place in House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-Ohio) U.S. Capitol office suite.

The team is focused on "making the House more accountable, efficient and open. I think we are going to put something together in the next few weeks that will fundamentally change the way we do business - in a way that both parties will like," transition team member Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in an interview.

Boehner did make an appearance, according to the GOP readout, and told the team: "We have a lot of hard work ahead to fix the House so we can do the people's business."

The team discussed a number of topics, including the reforms proposed in the Pledge to America, modernization of House structures and procedures, how to schedule the House floor and committees to maximize productivity and accountability to the people; internal House services, officers of the House, and their various budgets; safety and security of the Capitol complex.

A handful of the 22-member GOP team, led by Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), could not make it to the meeting.

Of the four incoming lawmakers selected to be on the transition team, only member-elect Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) could not make the trip to D.C. on such short notice. Members-elect Martha Roby (R-Ala.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) were on hand for the meeting with incumbent GOP lawmakers.

Incumbent Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also could not make the meeting.

The other members of the group, which includes GOP Reps. Rob Bishop (Utah), John Campbell (Calif.), Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Rules Committee ranking member David Dreier (Calif.), Bob Goodlatte (Va.), Doc Hastings (Wash.), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Buck McKeon (Calif.), Candice Miller (Mich.), Mike Rogers (Mich.), National Republican Congressional Campaign Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) and Patrick Tiberi (Ohio), were present Monday evening.

The group has an early day planned for Tuesday, during which they will hear from former GOP lawmakers who ran the transition in 1994, when Republicans regained control of the House from Democrats. They are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m., where they will break into working groups on House operations, House Rules and scheduling "before resuming a full team discussion," according to transition team spokesman Brendan Buck.