An often-contentious hearing on Capitol Hill about the safety and service of D.C.’s Metro system was an exercise in determining who to blame for the transit system’s deterioration.

Prompted by Metro’s shutdown of the entire rail system on March 16, the hearing centered around two major issues: WMATA’s safety problems and its finance woes.

The sniping wasn’t just reserved for members of Congress—Christopher Hart, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, also alleged during his testimony that the Federal Transit Administration, which currently oversees Metro’s safety, wasn’t fit for the job. (Senior Advisor for FTA Carolyn Flowers’ response? “We’re on the job and doing the job,” though she also said that the FTA’s role was intended to be temporary.)

The only things that people seemed to agree on are that new-ish General Manager Paul Wiedefeld is doing well, and that Metro needs to fire people.

And fire people they will! “You need to get that deadwood out,” said Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA), about making labor changes that will eliminate staffing redundancies and create accountability.

“I’m moving in that direction right now,” Wiedefeld responded.

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said he wanted to see across-the-board personnel changes that went beyond senior management. “Given the depth of the problem, examples are going to have to be made out of people … a culture of mediocrity is no longer acceptable.”

While there was broad consensus about pink slips, one of the biggest open questions is whether the federal government ought to contribute to the operational budget of Metro.

Congressman John Mica (R-FL) called Metro finances “the most screwed up thing I’ve ever seen,” and pledged that he would “not bail out the District of Columbia.”

WMATA Board Chair Jack Evans responded that funding Metro doesn’t consitute bailing out D.C. He probably also would have explained the difference between the city and WMATA’s funding, but Mica interrupted him to yell more.

“There’s lots of money available,” said Mica. “We need leadership, management … My folks aren’t paying for this.”

Connolly took issue with Mica describing it as a bailout, too. “When you say a bailout, my constituents see something quite different.”

Some of the disagreement was due to varying ideas of how involved federal governments should be. When Evans listed cities Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, Paris, and London as examples of federally funded “world-class systems,” Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) exclaimed, regardless of fact: “Those are all communist countries!”

Meadows also noted twice during the hearing that he had spoken with his own staffers about their experiences on Metro, and they had witnessed their fair share of smoke-filled cars. He said some of his staffers have started commuting with Uber and other ride hailing apps because Metro isn’t reliable enough for them. Meadows himself, though, said he does not ride the system.

D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton underlined how many federal employees rely on the transit system, “When Metro shuts down, the federal government shuts down,” she said.

But she also called for Evans and those at Metro to create a plan for a dedicated funding source. “The notion about creating a dedicated funding source has become a mantra. I’m asking you … put something on the table,” she said.

As for the safety aspect of the hearing, Wiedefeld says he is working on a “holistic” plan for repairing Metro, which will be coming out in the next four to six weeks that will prevent them from “lurching from crisis to crisis.”

Meadows said that shutting down the Blue Line for six months, as Evans had floated, was “not an option.” Flowers of the FTA called for Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. to come up with an alternative safety commission.

At one point Evans recollected that, when he rode Metro when it first opened 40 years ago, it reminded him of The Jetsons. Meadows called for an update in 90 days, and closed out the hearing by noting that, “We’ve gone from The Jetsons to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.”