The Legislative Process: How Bills Become Laws

In the United States, a bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing one. The process of a bill becoming a law involves several steps, including drafting, introduction, committee review, voting, and approval by the President. The bill can be proposed by a member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, or even by citizens and advocacy groups. Once introduced, the bill undergoes scrutiny by committees and subcommittees, which can suggest changes. The bill is then voted on, and if passed by both the House and the Senate, it is presented to the President for approval. The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or do nothing, which results in a pocket veto. However, Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers. Understanding the legislative process is crucial to grasp how a bill becomes a law in the United States.

A bill is proposed by a representative or citizen

A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. A bill can be proposed by a sitting member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, or it can be proposed by citizens or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress that represents them.

Citizens who have ideas for laws can contact their Representatives to discuss their ideas. If the Representatives agree, they research the ideas and write them into bills. When a Representative has written a bill, the bill needs a sponsor. The Representative talks with other Representatives about the bill in the hopes of getting their support. Once a bill has a sponsor and the support of some of the Representatives, it is ready to be introduced.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper—a special box on the side of the clerk's desk. Only Representatives can introduce bills in the U.S. House of Representatives. When a bill is introduced, a bill clerk assigns it a number and a reading clerk reads the bill to all the Representatives. The Speaker of the House then sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.

Committees are groups of Representatives who are experts on topics such as agriculture, education, or international relations. They review, research, and revise the bill before voting on whether or not to send it back to the House floor. If the committee members would like more information before deciding, the bill is sent to a subcommittee, which closely examines the bill and gathers expert opinions before sending it back to the committee for approval.

The bill is introduced to the House of Representatives

The legislative process begins with the introduction of a bill to Congress. Anyone can write a bill, but only members of Congress can introduce it to the House of Representatives. 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 drafted, it must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House of Representatives. In the House of Representatives, a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper—a special box on the side of the clerk's desk. Only 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 Representatives, and the Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House standing committees.

Committees are made up of groups of Representatives who are experts on specific topics, such as agriculture, education, or international relations. They review, research, and revise the bill before voting on whether to send it back to the House floor. If the committee members need more information before making a decision, the bill is sent to a subcommittee for closer examination and to gather expert opinions.

If the bill passes the committee stage, it is sent or "reported" to the House floor, where it is debated by the House of Representatives. Representatives discuss the bill and explain why they agree or disagree with it. A reading clerk then reads the bill section by section, and the Representatives recommend changes. Once all changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on.

The bill is assigned to a committee

Once a bill has been introduced, it is assigned to a committee. Committees are groups of Representatives who are experts on specific topics, such as agriculture, education, or international relations. There are 17 Senate committees, with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees, with 104 subcommittees. The committees are not set in stone; they 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 they can compel people to appear using subpoena power if necessary. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on record. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered to be "dead".

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 comes up for consideration, the House has a very structured debate process. Each member who wishes to speak only has a few minutes, and the number and kind of amendments are usually limited.

The bill is debated and voted on

Once a bill has been introduced, it is assigned to a committee, whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The committee will then vote on whether to send the bill back to the House floor. If the bill is approved by the committee, it is sent back to the House floor to be debated by the U.S. House of Representatives.

When a bill is debated, Representatives discuss the bill and explain why they agree or disagree with it. A reading clerk reads the bill section by section, and the Representatives recommend changes. Once all changes have been made, the bill 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 viva voce, the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those who oppose it to say "no". In division, the Speaker of the House asks those who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then does the same for those who oppose the bill. In recorded, Representatives record their vote using the electronic voting system, and can vote yes, no, or present if they don't want to vote on the bill. If a majority of Representatives vote yes, the bill passes in the U.S. House of Representatives.

If the bill passes in the House, it is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the U.S. Senate, where it goes through many of the same steps. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. Senators vote by voice, saying "yea" if they support the bill and "nay" if they oppose it. If a majority of Senators vote "yea", the bill passes in the U.S. Senate.

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, outlining their reasons for the veto. If the President takes no action on the bill for 10 days and Congress is still in session, the bill will automatically become law. However, if Congress is not in session and the President takes no action, the bill will be pocket vetoed, meaning it will not become law and Congress will be unable to override the veto.

When a bill reaches the President, it is the culmination of a long process. The bill will have been proposed by a Representative, who will have sought support from their peers. It will then have been introduced to the House of Representatives, where it was assigned a number and read to the Representatives before being sent to a committee. The committee will have reviewed, researched, and revised the bill, before voting on whether to send it back to the House floor for debate and a vote. If the bill passed in the House, it would then have gone through a similar process in the Senate.

If the bill passes in both the House and the Senate, a conference committee made up of members from both chambers will work to resolve any differences between the two versions of the bill. The resulting bill is then returned to both the House and the Senate for final approval. Only once both chambers have approved the same version of the bill is it sent to the President.

The President's role in this process is, therefore, a crucial one. While they can choose to approve a bill and sign it into law, they also have the power to block a bill by vetoing it or using a pocket veto. However, Congress can override a veto if two-thirds of both the House and the Senate support the bill.

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