Keith Mack
The process of a bill becoming a law varies in length and can be as short as a few hours or as long as 100 years. The idea for a bill can come from 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 citizens or citizen groups who recommend a new or amended law to a member of Congress. 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 then has the power to approve the bill and sign it into law, or 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 vetoed by default, in a process called a pocket veto.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Who signs bills to become laws | The President |
| Who can introduce a bill | Any member of Congress |
| Who drafts a bill | Any member of Congress |
| Who sponsors a bill | Any member of Congress |
| Who co-sponsors a bill | Any member of Congress |
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What You'll Learn
A bill is introduced by a member of Congress
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 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.
Any member of Congress can introduce a bill. In the House, legislation is handed to the clerk of the House or placed in the hopper, a wooden box on the House floor. In the Senate, members must gain recognition from the presiding officer to announce the introduction of a bill during the morning hour. If any senator objects, the introduction of the bill is postponed until the next day.
Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned a number (e.g. HR 1 or S 1) and a sponsor's name. It is then sent to the Government Printing Office (GPO) for copying. Members can also cosponsor the bill.
The bill is then referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees. The committee will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. Subcommittees may also be assigned to work on specific parts of the bill.
The committee will then hold a "mark-up" session to make revisions and additions. If substantial amendments are made, the committee can order the introduction of a "clean bill" that includes the proposed amendments. This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded.
After the bill is reported, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill may write a dissenting opinion in the report. The report is sent back to the whole chamber and is placed on the calendar.
In the House, most bills go to the Rules Committee before reaching the floor. The Rules Committee adopts rules that will govern the procedures under which the bill will be considered by the House.
The bill is then placed on one of four House Calendars. The Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader decide what will reach the floor and when. In the Senate, legislation is placed on the Legislative Calendar. Scheduling of legislation is the job of the Majority Leader. Bills can be brought to the floor whenever a majority of the Senate chooses.
The bill is then debated and amended. In the House, debate is limited by the rules formulated in the Rules Committee. In the Senate, debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked.
The bill is then voted on. If it passes, it is sent to the other chamber, where it will go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting.
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The bill is assigned to a committee
Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee. The committee will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. The committee will also decide whether to release the bill.
In the House, the Speaker, on the advice of the nonpartisan parliamentarian, refers the bill to all committees that have jurisdiction over the provisions in the bill. Most bills fall under the jurisdiction of one committee. If multiple committees are involved, each committee will only work on the portion of the bill under its jurisdiction. One of those committees will be designated the primary committee of jurisdiction and will likely take the lead on any action that may occur. In the Senate, bills are referred to committee in a similar process, though in almost all cases, the bill is referred to only the committee with jurisdiction over the issue that predominates in the bill. In a limited number of cases, a bill might not be referred to a committee but instead be placed directly on the Senate Calendar of Business through a series of procedural steps on the floor.
The Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate refers the bill to the appropriate committee. Most often, the actual referral decision is made by the House or Senate parliamentarian. Bills may be referred to more than one committee and it may be split so that parts are sent to different committees. The Speaker of the House may set time limits on committees. Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Bills in the House can only be released from the committee without a proper committee vote by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership (218 members).
A bill can be assigned to a subcommittee by the Chairman. Hearings may be held. Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee. Finally, there is a vote by the full committee – the bill is "ordered to be reported". A committee will hold a "mark-up" session during which it will make revisions and additions. If substantial amendments are made, the committee can order the introduction of a "clean bill" which will include the proposed amendments. This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded. The chamber must approve, change or reject all committee amendments before conducting a final passage vote.
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The bill is debated and voted on
House of Representatives
In the House, the bill is debated and amended by the Committee of the Whole. The time allotted to each person is decided by the Sponsoring Committee, with time divided equally between proponents and opponents. Amendments must be relevant to the subject of the bill. A quorum call is a vote to ensure that there are enough members present (218) to have a final vote. If there is not a quorum, the House will adjourn or send the Sergeant at Arms to round up missing members.
There are three methods for voting on a bill in the House:
- Viva Voce (voice vote): The Speaker of the House asks the Representatives who support the bill to say “aye” and those that oppose it say “no.”
- Division: 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.
- Recorded: 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).
Senate
In the Senate, debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments do not need to be relevant to the bill. Senators can use a filibuster to defeat a measure by "talking it to death."
Senators vote by voice. Those who support the bill say “yea,” and those who oppose it say “nay.”
Conference Committee
If the House and Senate pass the same bill, it is sent to the President. If the House and Senate pass different bills, they are sent to a Conference Committee, which is made up of members from each house. The committee works out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval.
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The bill is passed to the other chamber
The legislative process of a bill becoming a law is a lengthy procedure. Once a bill is introduced, it is assigned to a committee, researched, discussed, and amended. It is then put before the chamber to be voted on. If the bill passes one body of Congress, it is passed to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes, and voting. This is the stage where the bill is passed to the other chamber.
In the United States, the two chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill must be agreed to by both chambers in the same form before it can be presented to the President. Once a chamber passes a bill, it is engrossed—prepared in official form—and then sent to the other chamber. In most cases, the second chamber agrees to the exact text passed by the first chamber, and Congress has completed its action on the bill.
However, the second chamber may instead decide to amend the first chamber's bill. This could be by proposing an alternative version of the bill, which may differ in minor or substantial ways. The alternative could even embody a proposal on a different topic. Once the second chamber agrees to this proposed alternative, it may send the proposal back to the first chamber for possible consideration and a vote. This back-and-forth trading of proposals is called amendment exchange or ping-pong. For the bill to have a chance of becoming law, one chamber must eventually agree to the proposal sent by the other chamber.
Sometimes, the resolution of differences between the House and Senate proposals is accomplished through a conference committee. A conference committee is a temporary committee formed in relation to a specific bill. It is made up of members of both the House and the Senate, with the task of negotiating a proposal that can be agreed upon by both chambers. Through a combination of informal negotiations and formal meetings, the committee tries to reach a compromise, drawing on elements of the competing proposals. If a proposal can gain the support of a majority in both the House and the Senate, then the negotiated proposal is embodied in a conference report. This conference report can then be considered in one chamber and, if agreed to, considered in the other chamber.
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The bill is sent to the President
Once a bill has been approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is sent to the President. The President has three options:
- Sign and pass the bill, which becomes a law.
- Refuse to sign or veto the bill, which is then 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 a 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 a law.
- Do nothing (pocket veto). If Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law after 10 days. If Congress is not in session, the bill does not become a law.
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Frequently asked questions
Any member of Congress can introduce a bill.
The bill is assigned to a committee, which will research, discuss and make changes to it.
The bill is put before the chamber to be voted on.
It goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes and voting.
It is presented to the President.
