"If there's anything that came out of the [House Administration Committee] hearing, it's that this might be the basis of bipartisan support," he said after a Wednesday session on how to address Citizens United v. the Federal Elections Commission, a Supreme Court decision issued last month. The decision will allow corporations to make independent expenditures supporting and opposing candidates in elections.

The prospect of empowering national political parties won support from two Democratic sources: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Robert Lenhard, a hearing witness and former FEC chairman. "The parties are so constrained it's not good for the system at all," Lofgren said.

Lungren said support may be broader. He noted that House Administration Chairman Robert Brady did not come out against the idea during the hearing, and that Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif. expressed openness on the possibility when he spoke to her afterwards. "It's a chance to make the parties less irrelevant, less toothless," he said.