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The Legislative Process

The chief function of Congress is to create laws. The legislative process can be quite complex and convoluted, so we invite you to take a few minutes to learn about how it works.

Below is the “short version” of how laws are made. An in-depth discussion of the legislative process is available in How Our Laws are Made and Enactment of a Law

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Age- and grade-appropriate versions of how laws are made are available for:

The Short Version
The general legislative process is described in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 7

A bill must pass both chambers of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – by a majority vote. After it has passed both chambers of Congress, it is sent to the president.

If the president signs the bill, it becomes law.

But the president might not sign the bill.

If he specifically rejects the bill – that’s called a veto – the bill returns to Congress, where it is voted on again. If both chambers of Congress pass the bill again, but by a two-thirds majority, then the bill becomes law without the President's signature. This is called “overriding a veto.” That is very difficult to do because it requires both houses of Congress to pass a bill by a two-thirds majority.

The president can sit on the bill and take no action at all. If the president takes no action at all for ten (10) days (not including Sundays), the bill becomes law without the president's signature. However, if Congress adjourns before the ten days pass, the bill fails (in what is known as a “pocket veto”).

Where Do Bills Come From?
Usually, individual members of Congress introduce bills. Sometimes, they develop these bills on their own; sometimes, a constituent or a group of constituents bring bills to a member for him or her to introduce it. A bill can be submitted to an individual member by a state legislature. Occasionally, the president or a member of his administration might suggest a bill to a member of Congress.

On the House of Representatives side, a member places the bill into a bin near the Office of the Clerk. On the Senate side, the bill is handed to the clerk at the desk of the president of the Senate.

Virtually any kind of bill can be introduced in either chamber of Congress; however, bills to raise revenue cannot be introduced in the Senate and must be introduced in the House.

House Committees
The House of Representatives divides its work among more than 20 permanent committees. Committees focus on general topics, like Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Oversight and Government Reform. Those committees are often broken down into specialized subcommittees. For example, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee currently includes subcommittees on Aviation; Highways and Transit; Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials; and others. All told, there are more than 200 committees and subcommittees (counting both the House and the Senate sides).

Once a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives, it is assigned to a committee. The committee most often sends the measure to its specialized subcommittee(s) for study, hearings, revision, and (possible) approval. Some bills are broad enough to be considered by a full committee.

When a bill is being considered by a subcommittee, hearings are usually held. Witnesses may be called to testify about why the bill is necessary (with members of the subcommittee asking the questions). After the hearing is complete, members of the subcommittee vote whether to send the bill to the full committee. If that vote fails, the bill dies.

When a bill is being considered by a full committee, or when a bill makes it from a subcommitee to the full committee, the process is similar. The bill will be debated, additional hearings may be held, and additional witnesses may be called. When that process is finished, the committee will vote on the bill. If the bill is defeated in the committee vote, it dies.

If it passes, a “favorable” committee report is usually attached to the bill.A favorable report describes the bill and indicates, on section-by-section basis, how the proposed bill changes existing statutes.

Occasionally, a committee will report a measure “unfavorably,” with explicit recommendations against its passage. It can also report a bill “without recommendation,” which has the same effect as an unfavorable report.

The bill and the report are sent to the entire House of Representatives.

House Committee reports can be found here.


Final Passage in the House
Even then, the process is far from over.

Committee-passed bills and reports are referred to the “Committee of the Whole House.”  All representatives serve on this committee, and it meets in the House Chamber. Its schedule is dictated by the “Union Calendar.” It has different requirements for a quorum (the minimum number of people required to consider or approve motions or legislation).

The bill is read and debated. During this general debate, equal amounts of time are given to the two main parties in the House. When the time for debate ends, there is a second reading. After that, amendments to the bill may be offered, debated, and voted upon.

Note that a bill cannot be killed in the Committee of the Whole. However, amendments may be added to the bill that make it less appealing or more controversial for one of the main parties in the House, or personally objectionable to individual members or groups of members. These amendments are sometimes referred to as “poison pills” because they can serve to doom a bill to failure.

After the Committee of the Whole ends debating, amending, and voting on the bill, it is referred back to the full House of Representatives.

The full House then considers the amendments placed on the bill by the Committee of the Whole. Amendments can be voted upon one at a time, in small groups, or all at once.

Once any amendments are added – or if no amendments are added – a bill faces one of two votes: a vote on a motion to recommit or a vote on passage.

A “motion to recommit” is traditionally the right of the minority party and gives them one last chance to amend or kill the bill. There are two types:

A motion to recommit without instructions, which sends the bill back to the committee from where it came. This essentially kills it.

A motion to commit with instructions, which includes instructions for the committee to follow. Usually, the instruction is for the committee to “report the bill back to the House forthwith with the following amendment.” The text of the amendment is then presented in full. In effect, this is the last chance for the minority to change the bill in the House. If the bill is recommitted with “forthwith” instructions, the bill is immediately reported back to the House, on the spot with the amendment. The amendment is voted on and the House proceeds to final passage of the bill.

After that, one of two votes can happen - either a vote to recommit (which can send the bill back to committee if approved), or a vote on the bill, as amended. If a recommit vote fails, a full vote is taken.

If a bill passes, it is organized and published.


In the Senate
After a Senate committee refers a bill to the full Senate, it can take one of two main roads. In some cases, with emergency or other non-controversial bills, a simple voice vote is taken of the Senate, and the bill either passes or fails. Amendment is possible even when the simple voice vote can be used. If consent for a voice vote is not available, the bill is placed on the calendar for review by the entire Senate at a later date.

When the bill's time comes up, objection can be noted. If no objection is noted, each senator has five minutes to speak on the bill. During this time, amendments may be offered. If objection was offered, then each senator has the opportunity to speak on the bill for as long as he or she wishes. From time to time, a senator may “filibuster” by speaking about a bill for an extended period of time, never yielding the floor to another senator. This is usually, at most, a delaying tactic, since a single member cannot speak for an indefinite amount of time. By combining forces with other senators, however, it can be an effective tool for stopping action on an item, or for forcing compromise on an item.

After all amendments are offered and voted upon, and all senators who wish to talk have had a chance to, the bill is put forth for a vote.


Reconciling & Conference
When a bill passes the House and the Senate, the versions are reviewed. If the versions are different – even in something as small as punctuation – they must be reconciled.

The chamber in which the bill originated is given a copy of the bill with its differences. For example, if the House originated a bill, passed it, sent it to the Senate for consideration, and the Senate made changes, the bill is sent back to the House for reconciliation.

If the differences are minor, they might be accepted by the originating house without debate.

But if the changes are substantial, the bill must go to “conference.” Representatives and senators are assigned by leadership in both chambers to meet and work out the differences in the two versions of the bill. Conference members, called “managers,” are not allowed to make substantial changes to the bill. They can add or remove amendments – as long as those amendments are in either version. Managers cannot add new amendments. New text can only be added as a compromise between the two versions and only if the new text is consistent with the bill itself.

There are three potential outcomes to the conference process.

Managers can report back that they were only able to agree on parts of the bill, or managers can report they were totally unable to agree. If either of those instances occur, the bill can be sent to a new conference, it can be sent back to House or Senate committees (basically, starting the process all over again), or the bill could die.

Managers can report back to their respective chambers that they were able to agree on the bill. If happens, the bill is re-voted on in both the House and Senate.

If it passes both, the bill is signed by the Speaker of the House and the President (or President Pro Tem) of the Senate before being presented to the president.

Finally, after both officials sign the bill, it goes to the president for his signature.


The President’s Desk
The President may sign the bill at any time after it is delivered.

Once the bill is delivered, a 10-day countdown begins. Sundays are excluded from those 10 days.

If the bill goes unsigned for more than those 10 days, it becomes law – even if the president does not sign it. The only exception to this 10-day period is called a “pocket veto.” If Congress adjourns before those 10 days are up and the president doesn’t sign it, the bill is dead.

The president can also veto the bill, which means he rejects it. If he vetoes a bill, a message containing the president’s objections is sent to Congress. Both chambers can decide to vote to override a presidential veto, but the standard for passage is higher – a two-thirds majority. If both chambers approve the bill by two-thirds majorities, the presidential veto is overridden and the bill becomes law.

If a vote is taken to override and the vote fails, the bill dies.

If no immediate revote is taken, the bill can be tabled for later or sent back to the committee to be reworked.


A Bill Becomes Law
Officially, immediately after the president signs the bill, 10 days passes without a signature, or after a presidential veto is overridden, the bill is considered law. It immediately takes effect.

Practically, it takes a bit more work.

The new law is transmitted to the Archivist of the United States, which assigns it a number and publishes the law as a pamphlet. This first printing is known as a “slip law.” The slip law contains the text of the law; where it is be inserted in the United States Code, if at all; its legislative history; the committees through which it passed; and other relevant information.

Slip laws are collected and published in chronological order, the United States Statutes at Large, a collection of all laws passed in a session of Congress. 

The U.S. Code
The U.S. Code is the official compilation of the current Federal statutes of a general and permanent nature. The code is arranged according to subject matter under 50 subject headings, called “titles.” The code sets out the current status of the laws, incorporating all amendments into the text.

If a law affects the U.S. Code, it is added to it. Sections or clauses that are replaced are stricken.

The entire U.S. Code is republished every six years.


Constitutional Amendments
Amending the U.S. Constitution requires a completely different procedure.

To learn about how the Constitution is amended, click here.

 

Primary source: Mount, Steve. “Constitutional Topic: How a Bill Becomes a Law.” USConstitution.net. 24 Jan 2010. http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_mlaw.html (17 Jan 2012)