In Washington, D.C., professional line standers have been hired to secure scarce public seats at high-profile congressional hearings. The Washington Post reported in 2015 that companies supplied placeholders for lobbyists and other clients who wanted to be sure of entering a hearing room. The stander arrived early and held the position until the client could take over.
A hearing is a public political space, but its seats are finite. People able to spend hours and people able to buy those hours meet in the same line. Outsourcing the wait is practical, yet it also raises a simple question: whose time determines proximity to public power?