Keith Mack
In the United States, laws are made by the Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. The idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups. Once a bill is introduced, it goes through several stages of review, discussion, and voting in both the House and the Senate before it can become a law. The bill is then presented to the President, who can approve or veto it. If the President vetoes the bill, Congress can override the veto by voting again on the bill with a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Who can propose a bill? | A sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, or be proposed during their election campaign. Bills can also be petitioned by people or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress. |
| Who drafts the bill? | The primary Congress member supporting the bill is called the "sponsor". The other members who support the bill are called "co-sponsors". |
| What happens after the bill is drafted? | The bill is introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. |
| What happens after the bill is introduced? | The bill is referred to a committee. |
| What does the committee do? | The committee reviews, researches, and revises the bill before voting on whether or not to send the bill back to the House floor. |
| What happens if the committee needs more information? | The bill is sent to a subcommittee for further review and expert opinions. |
| What happens after the committee stage? | The bill is reported to the House floor and is ready to be debated. |
| How is the bill voted on? | There are three methods for voting on a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives: Viva Voce (voice vote), Division, and Recorded. |
| What happens after the bill is 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. |
| What happens after both bodies of Congress approve the bill? | A conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. |
| What happens after the final approval by both bodies of Congress? | The bill is sent to the President for approval. |
| What can the President do? | The President can approve the bill and sign it into law, or refuse to approve it (veto it). |
| What happens if the President vetoes the bill? | Congress can vote to override that veto and the bill becomes a law. If the President does not sign off on a bill and it remains unsigned when Congress is no longer in session, the bill will be vetoed by default (pocket veto), and this cannot be overridden by Congress. |
What You'll Learn
A bill is proposed
A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. The idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups.
Once a member of Congress has an idea for a bill, they write it down. This is called drafting the bill. The member of Congress who writes the bill is called the sponsor, and any other members of Congress who support the bill are called co-sponsors.
When a bill is ready to be introduced, it needs a sponsor. The sponsor talks with other members of Congress about the bill to try to get their support. Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of some members of Congress, it is ready to be introduced. Only members of Congress can introduce legislation, but anyone can write it.
A bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper, a special box on the side of the clerk's desk. Only members of the House of Representatives can introduce bills in the House of Representatives. When a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives, a bill clerk assigns it a number that begins with H.R. A reading clerk then reads the bill to all the members of the House of Representatives, and the Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.
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The bill is introduced
The committees are made up of groups of Representatives who are experts on topics such as agriculture, education, or international relations. There are 17 Senate committees with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees with 104 subcommittees. Each committee oversees a specific policy area, and the subcommittees take on more specialised policy areas. For example, the House Committee on Ways and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Trade.
The bill is first considered in a subcommittee, where it may be accepted, amended, or rejected. If the members of the subcommittee agree to move a bill forward, it is reported to the full committee, where the process is repeated. Throughout this stage, the committees and subcommittees call hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill. They invite experts, advocates, and opponents to appear before the committee and provide testimony, and can compel people to appear using subpoena power if necessary.
If the full committee votes to approve the bill, it is reported to the floor of the House or Senate, and the majority party leadership decides when to place the bill on the calendar for consideration. If a bill is particularly pressing, it may be considered right away. Others may wait for months or never be scheduled at all.
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The bill goes to committee
Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee. There are 17 Senate committees, with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees, with 104 subcommittees. The committees are not set in stone, but change in number and form with each new Congress as required for the efficient consideration of legislation. Each committee oversees a specific policy area, and the subcommittees take on more specialized policy areas. For example, the House Committee on Ways and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Trade.
A bill is first considered in a subcommittee, where it may be accepted, amended, or rejected entirely. If the members of the subcommittee agree to move a bill forward, it is reported to the full committee, where the process is repeated again. Throughout this stage of the process, the committees and subcommittees call hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill. They invite experts, advocates, and opponents to appear before the committee and provide testimony, and can compel people to appear using subpoena power if necessary.
If the full committee votes to approve the bill, it is reported to the floor of the House or Senate, and the majority party leadership decides when to place the bill on the calendar for consideration. If a bill is particularly pressing, it may be considered right away. Others may wait for months or never be scheduled at all.
When the bill reaches committee, the committee members—groups of Representatives who are experts on topics such as agriculture, education, or international relations—review, research, and revise the bill before voting on whether or not to send the bill back to the House floor. If the committee members would like more information before deciding if the bill should be sent to the House floor, the bill is sent to a subcommittee. While in subcommittee, the bill is closely examined and expert opinions are gathered before it is sent back to the committee for approval.
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The bill is voted on
Once a bill has been introduced, assigned to a committee, and reported to the House floor, it is ready to be voted on.
There are three methods for voting on a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives: Viva Voce, Division, and Recorded. In a Viva Voce vote, the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those that oppose it to say "no." In a Division vote, the Speaker of the House asks those Representatives who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then those who oppose the bill to stand up and be counted. In a Recorded vote, Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system. Representatives can vote yes, no, or present if they don't want to vote on the bill. If a majority of Representatives say or select yes, the bill passes in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the U.S. Senate.
In the Senate, Senators vote by voice. Those who support the bill say "yea," and those who oppose it say "nay." If a majority of the Senators say "yea," the bill passes in the U.S. Senate and is ready to go to the President.
If a bill has passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, it is then presented to the President. The President then considers the bill and can approve the bill and sign it into law, or refuse to approve it, which is called a veto. If the President chooses to veto a bill, Congress can vote to override that veto, and the bill becomes a law. However, if the President does not sign off on a bill and it remains unsigned when 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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The bill is sent to the President
Once a bill has been approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is sent to the President. The President has several options. If the President agrees with the bill, they can sign it into law. If the President disagrees with the bill, they can veto it and send it back to Congress, along with their reasons for the veto. If Congress still believes the bill should become law, they can override the veto by holding another vote on the bill. If two-thirds of the Representatives and Senators support the bill, the President's veto is overridden and the bill becomes a law.
If Congress is in session, the President can also choose to do nothing for 10 days, in which case the bill automatically becomes law. However, if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up and the President has not signed the bill, the bill will not become law. This is called a pocket veto and cannot be overridden by Congress.
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Frequently asked questions
A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law.
The idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups.
Once a bill is proposed, it must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate.
After being introduced, a bill is referred to a committee for review. The committee will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill before voting on whether to send it back to the House floor.
The bill is then put before the chamber to be voted on. If it passes one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting.
