Kara Sears
In the United States, a bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law. The process of how a bill becomes a law involves several steps, including drafting, introduction, committee review, voting, and approval by the President. This journey from a bill to a law is a complex and lengthy process that involves the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. The bill undergoes scrutiny, debate, and revision before it can be passed into law, ensuring a thorough legislative process.
| 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 that represents them. |
| 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 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. |
| What happens after the bill is introduced? | The bill is referred to a committee. Both the House and Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. |
| What does the committee do? | The committee examines the bill and determines its chances of passage by the entire Congress. The committee may even choose to hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. |
| What is a subcommittee? | Subcommittees are organized under committees and have further specialization on a certain topic. Committees refer bills to a subcommittee for study and their own hearings. |
| What is the committee mark-up of the bill? | The committee will meet to "mark up" the bill. They make changes and amendments prior to recommending the bill to the "floor". |
| What happens after the committee stage? | The bill reaches the floor, where there is additional debate and members of the full chamber vote to approve any amendments. The bill is then passed or defeated by the members voting. |
| What happens after the bill is voted on? | When the House or Senate passes a bill, it is referred to the other chamber, where it usually follows the same route through committees and finally to the floor. |
| What happens after the referral to the other chamber? | This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it or change it. Congress may form a conference committee to resolve or reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill. |
| What happens after the conference committee stage? | If an agreement is reached, the committee members prepare a conference report with recommendations for the final bill. Both the House and Senate must vote to approve the conference report. |
| What happens after both chambers approve the bill? | The bill is sent to the President. If the President approves of the legislation, it is signed and becomes law. |
| What can the President do? | The President can sign and pass the bill, refuse to sign or veto the bill, or do nothing (pocket veto). |
| What happens if the President vetoes the bill? | Congress may attempt to override the veto. If both the Senate and the House pass the bill by a two-thirds majority, the President's veto is overruled, and the bill becomes a law. |
What You'll Learn
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. 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 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, it 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 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.
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The bill is introduced
The bill is first considered in a subcommittee, where it may be accepted, amended, or rejected entirely. If the bill is accepted, it is reported to the full committee, where the process is repeated. If the bill is rejected, it is considered dead. If the bill is amended, the subcommittee must vote to refer it back to the full committee. 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 they can compel people to appear using subpoena power if necessary.
If the full committee approves 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. In the Senate, debate on most bills is unlimited. Senators may speak to issues other than the bill under consideration during their speeches, and any amendment can be introduced. Senators can use this to filibuster bills under consideration, a procedure by which a Senator delays a vote on a bill and, by extension, its passage by refusing to stand down. A supermajority of 60 Senators can break a filibuster by invoking cloture, or the cession of debate on the bill, and forcing a vote.
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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 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, 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. 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 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 the subcommittee, the bill is closely examined and expert opinions are gathered before it is sent back to the committee for approval. 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 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.
The first method is viva voce, where the Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say "aye" and those that oppose it to say "no". The second method is division, where 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. The third method is recorded, where 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 the 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, 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 the Senators say "yea", the bill passes in the U.S. Senate and is ready to go to the President.
A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. If the President receives a bill from Congress and agrees with it, they may sign it into law. If the President disagrees with the bill, they may veto it and send it back to Congress. Congress may then override the veto by passing the bill again in each chamber with at least two-thirds of each body voting in favor. If the President does nothing with the bill for 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill will automatically become law. However, if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up and the President takes no action, the bill will be pocket vetoed and will not become law.
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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. At this stage, the President has several options. If the President approves of the bill, they can sign it into law. If the President takes no action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill will automatically become law.
However, if the President opposes the bill, they may veto it. A veto means that the bill is sent back to the House of Representatives, along with the President's reasons for the veto. If the House of Representatives and the Senate still believe the bill should become law, they can hold 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 law.
If Congress is not in session, and the President does not sign off on a bill, the bill will be vetoed by default. This is called a "pocket veto" and it 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 introduced, it is assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The bill is then put before that 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 vote to accept a 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 can approve the bill and sign it into law, or they can refuse to approve it, which is called a veto. If the president chooses to veto a bill, in most cases, 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.
