The Committee on House Administration recently conducted a full committee hearing focused on the oversight of the Government Publishing Office (GPO) as it adapts to a digital-first environment. The session included testimony from Hugh Halpern, Director of the GPO, and addressed several key topics including passport production, artificial intelligence adoption, and new data protocols.
Chairman Bryan Steil highlighted GPO's century-long involvement in passport operations and questioned Halpern about past delays in passport processing. Steil asked if technology issues at GPO contributed to these delays and how current efforts are addressing potential future increases in demand. Halpern responded, "Absolutely. So it's important to remember GPO produces the blank passports that 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's 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. So, 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 one day's delivery time for passports, much like East Coast and Southern processing centers. So we continue to work with our State Department customer to make sure that we deliver the supplies they need."
Steil further pressed whether GPO could meet rising demand for passports from its supply side. Halpern stated: "We believe we can, we're continuing to hire folks."
The hearing also explored how GPO is using artificial intelligence tools internally. Representative Stephanie Bice noted her interest as Subcommittee on Modernization Chair in responsibly integrating AI into legislative processes and mentioned her office’s use of Microsoft Copilot for managing information efficiently. She asked Halpern about GPO’s AI initiatives.
Halpern explained: "It's probably not a lot different than what the House is doing, on the administrative side. So 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're doing it right. I got a lot of lawyers who also need to make sure we're getting this right because the cost on the other side, if we don't 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'm like, 'hey, Copilot, can you 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." He added that AI tools are also being considered for cataloging activities related to the Federal Depository Library Program but emphasized continued reliance on experienced staff.
Another focus was GPO’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard designed to connect artificial intelligence applications with external systems such as government data repositories.
Representative Mike Carey sought clarification about MCP’s role in making government information more accessible through AI tools: "Chairwoman Bice and I are constantly looking to understand how other government offices are incorporating AI and machine learning systems into their daily operations... Can you share a little bit more about this development and as you share that, maybe explain in layman's terms so people can understand exactly what that what as you're describing..."
Halpern described MCP as "an avenue in for these other kinds of LLMs and other kinds of AI models so that they can utilize our repository of data and use it without having to constantly train on it ahead of time." He explained its efficiency given frequently updated datasets such as congressional records or newly introduced bills: "But this enables us... your AI tool... gives those tools a route into our data set so that it can effectively query that data set..." He noted there was no plan for developing proprietary chatbots since outside developers may be better equipped.
The hearing reflects ongoing efforts by Congress’ administrative arm both modernize federal publishing practices through technology upgrades while ensuring reliable support services such as passport production remain robust.
