What would preclude us from going back to advise and consent, using affidavits only?
Nothing. The entire setup of Senate committees, hearings and procedure has become absurd. This is especially true when they try to set themselves up as investigative bodies. Their legal skills are terrible and mostly they pontificate and badger and get nowhere. The ones that know what they are doing are few and far between. They need to come up with new ways of doing things or they will continue to descend into the theater of the absurd.