One of the keys to WashingtonWatch.com is good data about federal legislation. A reason why WashingtonWatch.com is not a much better resource is because it’s very hard to get good data out of the legislative branch.

So it’s nice to see that a new Open Senate Project is joining the Open House Project. These are both efforts to improve the workings of the Congress and make it more transparent to the public.

Over the past year-and-a-half plus, the Open House Project has developed a list of recommendations for the House, some of which have gotten some traction, as discussed in this retrospective on that work.

Now, here’s the dirty, and unfortunate, little secret: It is against Congress’ institutional interests and Congressmembers’ individual interests to be more transparent. Information is power, and giving the public access to the really good, really timely information about Congress’ workings would dramatically reduce their freedom of action.

So, while they will say nice things and make nice gestures about transparency, Members of Congress and congressional leaders will not give up power all that easily. Roadblocks of all kinds will get in the way of these projects, and ultimately information will have to be taken from Congress. Congress won’t just hand it over.

Getting leaders to talk favorably about transparency and take small steps in that direction is a start, though. At the very least, these efforts will lay traps for the politicians whose natural habitat is still the cigar-smoke-filled room.

Kudos to the Sunlight Foundation for building on the Open House Project with Open Senate.