Dear Diary, Constitution Article 1 §5.3

It’s not exactly great literature, but like a lot of literature, the Constitution is a simple text people have argued about for centuries. Unlike most literature, the outcomes from those arguments affect our lives every day, even if we aren’t aware of them. I like to know about the things that affect my life, when I can. That’s why on Wednesdays we study the Constitution.

Article 1 §5.3

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Yeah, keeping records is a good idea. Since it’s a democracy, making those records available to the public is also a good idea. Since it’s a nation, there are going to be some things that need to be secret (like who our spies are), so redacting some things is a good idea.

But whoa! No guidelines besides the members’ judgement on what kinds of things they are allowed to keep secret? What happened to checks and balances? Did the Framers really not see a conflict here? Let’s just imagine the possibilities.

Congressman1: Hey, let’s use federal funds to buy some hookers and join the mile-high club in a chartered jet.

Congressman2: Let’s redact that from the Journal.

Room full of entitled white guys: Good idea.

Maybe I’m just paranoid, but we’ll never know, will we? Anyway, it’s what we’ve got, so if you want the official record of Congressional action:

JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JOURNAL OF THE SENATE