Anaya Nolan
The legislative process is a matter about which every citizen should be well informed to understand the work of Congress. Citizens cannot introduce bills on their own, but they can ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on their behalf. If you have an idea for a bill, you can contact a legislator by phone, email, or snail mail. You can start with your current elected officials, or if you believe they would oppose your idea, you can try to find a legislator from another district who might support your cause. Legislators can only request new bills during the fall of each year, and after filing, they work with legislative staff to draft the bill. Bills are introduced in January, and public hearings and votes begin. Committees seek input from relevant departments and agencies, and reports are submitted to the Office of Management and Budget to determine consistency with the President's program. Each committee is required to review and study the application, administration, effectiveness, and execution of laws within their jurisdiction. The legislative process ensures that all sides have ample opportunity to be heard and make their views known, protecting the interests of the minority.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Who can request a law | Citizens can ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on their behalf |
| How to contact a legislator | Phone, email, snail-mail, or in-person meeting |
| When legislators can request new bills | Fall of each year |
| When bills are introduced | January |
| What happens after bill requests are filed | Legislative staff draft the bill text |
| What to do if your idea is related to a bill already in the legislative process | Ask the legislator to introduce your idea as an amendment to that bill |
| What happens after a bill is introduced | Public hearings and votes begin |
| What happens if the president chooses to veto a bill | Congress can vote to override the veto and the bill becomes a law |
| What happens if the president does not sign off on a bill and Congress is no longer in session | The bill will be vetoed by default (a "pocket veto") and cannot be overridden by Congress |
| Procedural differences between the Senate and the House | Only the House can initiate tax and revenue-related legislation; only the Senate can draft legislation related to presidential nominations and treaties; the House uses majority vote, while the Senate uses deliberation and debate prior to voting |
| Committees | Required to make their publications available in electronic form to the maximum extent feasible |
| General appropriation bill | Cannot be considered by the Committee on Appropriations until transcripts of committee hearings and a committee report have been available to the Members of the House for at least three calendar days |
| Standing committees | Required to review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of the laws dealing with the subject matter over which the committee has jurisdiction |
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Contact a legislator by phone, email, or snail mail
If you want to request a new law, the first step is to find a legislator who may support your idea. You can start with your current elected officials. If you are unsure of your congressional district or who your member is, you can use the '
Once you have found the legislator you want to contact, you can reach out to them by phone, email, or snail mail. Different legislators have different preferences when connecting with voters, so there is no right or wrong way to reach out. If your idea is very complex, it might be better to ask for a meeting to talk through your thoughts. If you know who your representative is but are unable to contact them using their contact form, you can call the U.S. House switchboard operator on (202) 224-3121, or visit your member's website directly for further information.
You can also use USAGov's 'Contact Your Elected Officials' tool to get contact information for your members of Congress, the president, and state and local officials. If you are having problems contacting your representative, you can report the problem using the Contact Webmaster form, write or call your elected representative, or visit them.
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Ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on your behalf
While citizens cannot introduce new bills on their own, they can ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on their behalf. If you have an idea for a bill, the first step is to find a legislator who may support your idea. You can start by reaching out to your current elected officials via phone, email, or snail mail. If you are certain that all of your local legislators would oppose your idea, you can try to find a legislator from another district who might agree with your cause. Look for similar bills from previous years and identify the sponsors of those bills.
Once you have identified a potential legislator, you can ask them to sponsor a bill on your behalf. Be as specific as possible about the legislation you have in mind, including the problem you are seeking to address and how you want to accomplish this through the bill. If your idea is complex, it may be helpful to ask for a meeting to talk through your thoughts.
After a legislator agrees to sponsor a bill, they will work with legislative staff to draft the exact bill text. Bills are then introduced, at which point public hearings and votes begin. If your idea is related to a bill that is already going through the legislative process, your legislator might be able to introduce your idea as an amendment to that bill.
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Bills are introduced in January
Once a legislator has been found to sponsor the bill, they will work with legislative staff to draft the bill. The bill is then introduced in January, at which point public hearings and votes begin. The bill is assigned to a committee, whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The committee will also seek input from relevant departments and agencies, and the bill may be submitted to the Government Accountability Office for an official report on the necessity and desirability of enacting the bill into law.
After the committee has finished its work, the bill is put before the chamber to be voted on. If the bill passes one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting. Once both bodies have voted to accept the bill, they must work out any differences between the two versions. Then both chambers vote on the same version of the bill. If it passes, they present it to the president.
The president then has 10 days to consider the bill. They can approve the bill and sign it into law, or they can refuse to approve it, which is called a veto. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can vote to override the veto, and the bill becomes a law. However, if the president does not sign off on the bill and Congress is no longer in session, the bill will be vetoed by default, which is called a pocket veto, and it cannot be overridden by Congress.
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Public hearings and votes occur after bill introductions
To request to make a law, citizens cannot introduce bills on their own. They can, however, ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on their behalf. If you have an idea for a bill, you can contact a legislator by phone, email, or snail mail. If your idea is complex, it might be better to ask for a meeting to talk through your thoughts.
Once legislators file bill requests, they work with legislative staff to draft the bill text. Bills are introduced in January, and this is when public hearings and votes begin. Committees are required to make their publications available in electronic form. If a bill is important, the committee will set a date for public hearings. The chairman of each committee is required to make a public announcement of the date, place, and subject matter of any hearing at least one week before it commences. Personal notices of the hearing, usually in the form of a letter, are sent to relevant individuals, organizations, and government departments and agencies.
Each hearing by a committee or subcommittee is required to be open to the public unless the committee or subcommittee determines that the hearing should be closed to the public because disclosure of testimony, evidence, or other matters would endanger national security, would compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or would violate a law or rule. Official reporters are present at public hearings to record the testimonies of cabinet officers, high-ranking government officials, and interested private individuals, who may testify either voluntarily or by subpoena.
After the hearings are completed, the subcommittee will consider the bill in a session known as the "markup" session. The views of both sides are studied in detail, and a vote is taken to determine the action of the subcommittee. The subcommittee may decide to report the bill favorably to the full committee, with or without amendment, or unfavorably, or without recommendation. Each member of the subcommittee, regardless of party affiliation, has one vote.
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The legislative process differs between the House and the Senate
The legislative process does differ between the House and the Senate, despite both being fundamentally equal in their legislative roles and functions. The House and Senate have developed different ways of processing legislation, which may be due to their constitutional differences.
Firstly, only the House can initiate tax and revenue-related legislation. The House processes legislation through a majority vote, with majority party leaders holding important powers to set the policy agenda and decide which proposals will be considered. The House also uses the yea-and-nay vote method, which may be automatic if a Member objects on the grounds that a quorum is not present.
On the other hand, only the Senate can draft legislation related to presidential nominations and treaties. The Senate confirms presidential nominations and approves treaties. Senators can introduce a bill or resolution by presenting it to one of the clerks without commenting, or by using a more formal procedure of introducing it from the floor, usually with an accompanying statement. Senators must negotiate with minority party leaders and individual Senators, giving them significant procedural leverage. The Senate deliberates and debates prior to voting.
In both chambers, the standing committees play a key role in developing and assessing legislation. Bills are assigned to committees who will research, discuss, and make changes, before putting the bill before the chamber to be voted on.
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Frequently asked questions
Citizens cannot introduce bills on their own, but they can ask a legislator to sponsor a bill on their behalf. You can contact a legislator by phone, email, or snail mail.
The legislative process involves multiple steps, from the source of an idea for a legislative proposal to its publication as a statute. Committees seek input from relevant departments and agencies, and the bill is often submitted to the Government Accountability Office for an official report on the necessity of enacting the bill into law. After legislators file bill requests, legislative staff draft the bill text, and bills are introduced in January, followed by public hearings and votes.
Yes, the President can veto a bill. However, in most cases, Congress can vote to override the veto, and the bill becomes a law. If the President does not sign off on a bill and Congress is no longer in session, the bill receives a pocket veto, which cannot be overridden.
Yes, citizens can play a role in the legislative process by contacting their elected officials and proposing ideas for new laws or changes to existing laws. They can also participate in public hearings and votes on bills.
Yes, there are online resources such as congress.gov and USAGov that provide information on how laws are made, the roles of different branches of government, and the differences in processes between the House of Representatives and the Senate. These resources help citizens understand their legislative process and representative system.
