Understanding Congress' Annual Lawmaking Output

The process of turning a bill into a law is a long and complex one. The US Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a bill must be passed by both houses before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law.

The idea for a bill can come from a sitting member of the US Senate or House of Representatives, be proposed during their election campaign, or be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups. Once introduced, a bill is assigned to a committee, which will research, discuss, and make changes to it. The bill is then put before that chamber to be voted on. If it passes one body of Congress, it goes through a similar process in the other body. 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, and if it passes, it is presented to the President.

The President can choose to approve and sign a bill into law, or they can veto it. 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 pocket vetoed, and this cannot be overridden by Congress.

The process of a bill becoming a law

Step 1: Drafting the Bill

Any member of Congress, either from the Senate or the House of Representatives, can draft a bill. These ideas can come from the Congress members themselves or from everyday citizens and advocacy groups. The primary Congress member supporting the bill is called the "sponsor", and other members who support the bill are known as "co-sponsors".

Step 2: Introducing the Bill

Once the bill is drafted, it must be introduced in the House if a Representative is the sponsor or in the Senate if a Senator is the sponsor. Once introduced, the bill can be found on Congress.gov, the official government website that tracks federal legislation.

Step 3: Committee Review

After introduction, the bill is referred to a committee. Both the House and the Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. The committee examines the bill, determines its chances of passage by Congress, and may hold hearings to better understand its implications. If the committee takes no action on a bill, it is considered "dead".

Step 4: Subcommittee Review

Committees may refer bills to subcommittees for further study and hearings. The subcommittee can make changes to the bill and must vote to refer it back to the full committee.

Step 5: Committee Markup

Once hearings and subcommittee review are complete, the committee meets to "mark up" the bill, making changes and amendments before recommending it to the "floor". If the committee votes against reporting the legislation to the full chamber of Congress, the bill dies. If they vote in favor, it is reported to the floor.

Step 6: Voting by the Full Chamber

On the floor, 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.

Step 7: Referral to the Other Chamber

If the bill passes one body of Congress, it goes to the other body (House or Senate) to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting. This chamber may approve, reject, ignore, or change the bill.

Step 8: Resolving Differences

If both bodies vote to accept a bill, they must work out any differences between their versions. Then, both chambers vote on the same version of the bill. If it passes, they present it to the President.

Step 9: Presidential Review

The President considers the bill and has several options. They can approve the bill and sign it into law, or they can veto it. If the President chooses to veto, Congress can attempt to override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House, 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, known as a "pocket veto", which cannot be overridden.

The role of Congress

The United States Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the legislative branch of the federal government. Congress has the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.

The legislative process begins with the introduction of a bill to Congress. Anyone can write a bill, but only members of Congress can introduce legislation. 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 Congress or be proposed during their election campaign. Bills can also be petitioned by citizens or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress that represents them.

Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. 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 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. Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority pass the bill.

A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills have the exact same wording, this rarely happens in practice. To bring the bills into alignment, a Conference Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers. The members of the committee produce a conference report, intended as the final version of the bill. Each chamber then votes again to approve the conference report. Depending on where the bill originated, the final text is then enrolled by either the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures. The bill is then sent to the President.

The President then considers the bill. The President can approve the bill and sign it into law. Or the President can refuse to approve a bill. This 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. But 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. This action is called a pocket veto, and it cannot be overridden by Congress.

The role of the House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two chambers that make up the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. The House is made up of 435 elected members, divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. Additionally, there are six non-voting members representing the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. The presiding officer of the House is the Speaker, who is third in the line of succession to the Presidency.

The House has several powers assigned exclusively to it, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an Electoral College tie. The House is also responsible for confirming appointments to the Vice Presidency and any treaty that involves foreign trade.

The House plays a crucial role in the legislative process, which begins with the introduction of a bill to Congress. While anyone can write a bill, only members of Congress can introduce legislation. 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 House or Senate, 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, which will research, discuss, and make changes to it. The House has 23 committees, with 104 subcommittees, and each committee oversees a specific policy area. For example, the House Committee on Ways and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Trade.

After being reviewed by a subcommittee and a full committee, a bill is reported to the floor of the House, and the majority party leadership decides when to place it on the calendar for consideration. The House has a very structured debate process, with each member wishing to speak having only a few minutes, and the number and kind of amendments usually limited. If the bill passes the House, it goes to the Senate to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting.

Once both the House and the Senate have voted to accept a bill, they must work out any differences between the two versions. A Conference Committee, consisting of members from both chambers, is formed to produce a conference report, which serves as the final version of the bill. Each chamber then votes again to approve the conference report. The bill is then sent to the President for consideration. The President can choose to approve the bill and sign it into law, or refuse to approve it, which is called a veto. If the President vetoes a bill, Congress can vote to override the veto, and the bill becomes a law.

The House of Representatives plays a vital role in the legislative process, ensuring that proposed bills are thoroughly researched, discussed, and amended before becoming laws.

The role of the Senate

The Senate is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, with two Senators representing each state, regardless of population or area. Senators are elected by the people of each state to serve six-year terms, with one-third of the Senate up for reelection every two years. The Senate has the sole power to confirm the President's appointments that require consent and to provide advice and consent to ratify treaties. The Senate also tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it by the House.

The legislative process begins with the introduction of a bill to Congress. While anyone can write a bill, only members of Congress can introduce legislation. A 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. The committees and subcommittees call hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill, inviting experts, advocates, and opponents to provide testimony. 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.

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 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. Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority pass the bill.

A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. If the President approves the bill, they may sign it into law. Or the President can refuse to approve a bill, 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. This action is called a pocket veto, and it cannot be overridden by Congress.

The role of the President

The President plays a crucial role in the process of a bill becoming a law. Once a bill has been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is presented to the President for consideration. The President has several options:

• The President can approve the bill and sign it into law.
• The President can veto the bill, sending it back to Congress. Congress can then override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, and the bill becomes law.
• If Congress is in session and the President takes no action on the bill within 10 days, the bill becomes law.
• If Congress adjourns before 10 days are up and the President takes no action, the bill is pocket vetoed, meaning it is vetoed by default and cannot be overridden by Congress.

The President also plays an important role in the legislative process by proposing important bills, such as the annual federal budget. Additionally, the President can communicate with Congress by recommending measures for their consideration, usually following the State of the Union address. These executive communications are a prolific source of legislative proposals.

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