THE FACTS: Both parties resort to secrecy in Congress at times, especially when hard-fought legislation is at stake. When Democrats grappled with a conservative uproar over President Barack Obama's health care bill, they held private meetings to iron out details and reach agreements to clinch the legislation's approval. That said, they also held scores of hearings and staged many days of debate in 2009 and 1010. The Senate's Republican leadership has held no hearings on its legislation, the contents of which are unknown. It's unusual for such a major bill to be written from scratch behind closed doors then rushed through Congress in a few days.