In the United States, laws begin as ideas that are proposed as bills in the House of Representatives or the Senate. These bills are then assigned to committees for study and debate. If a committee publishes a bill, it goes to the plenary of either chamber for subsequent discussion and vote. If a bill passes in one chamber, it is sent to the other chamber for a similar process. If both houses pass identical versions of a bill, the president is sent to sign it.
If the president signs it, it becomes law, or it becomes law if the president does not take any action for 10 days while Congress is in session. The president can also veto the bill, which can be rescinded with two-thirds of the votes of both houses. Once both bodies vote to accept a bill, they must resolve any differences between the two versions. Then, both houses vote on the same version of the bill.
If approved, they submit it to the president. The president then considers the bill. The president can pass the bill and sign it into law. Or the president may refuse to pass a bill. First, a representative sponsors a bill.
The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If published by the committee, the bill is included in a schedule to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill is passed by a simple majority (218 out of 43), the bill goes to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if published, is debated and voted on.
Once again, a simple majority (51 out of 100) approves the bill. Finally, a conference committee comprised of members from the House of Representatives and the Senate resolves any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House of Representatives and the Senate for final approval. The Government Publications Office prints the revised bill in a process called registration. The president has 10 days to sign or veto the registered bill.
Any member of Congress, whether in the Senate, House of Representatives, or Representatives, who has an idea for a bill can write a bill. These ideas come from members of Congress themselves or from ordinary citizens and advocacy groups. The main member of Congress who supports the bill is called the sponsor. The other members who support the bill are called co-sponsors. Once the bill has been drafted, it must be submitted.
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. Once a bill is submitted, it can be found on Congress, gov, which is the official government website that tracks federal legislation. The first step in the legislative process is the submission of a bill to Congress. Anyone can write it, but only members of Congress can introduce legislation.
Some important bills are traditionally introduced at the request of the president, such as the annual federal budget. However, during the legislative process, the initial bill may undergo drastic changes. When bills are passed identically by both houses of Congress and signed by the president (or the Congress reapproves them through a presidential veto), they become laws. When the Senate and House pass a bill in an identical form, the president is sent to sign it.
If the president signs the bill, it becomes law. The laws are also known as laws of Congress. Statute is another word that is used interchangeably with law. If the president is substantially in agreement with the bill, he can sign it and sign it into law, and then the bill is printed in the Statutes in general.
If the president decides to veto a bill, in most cases Congress can vote to override that veto and the bill becomes law. Public and private laws are printed in the form of laws that consist of loose sheets or pamphlets containing the text of the law. All legislative power in the government is vested in Congress, meaning that it is the only part of the government that can enact new laws or change existing laws. Simple resolutions don't require the approval of the other house or the president's signature, and they don't have the force of law.
This is called a pocket veto, and if Congress still wants to pass legislation, it must start the entire process all over again. During this stage of the process, committees and subcommittees convene hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill. Oversight of the executive branch is an important measure for Congress to control the president's power and counteracts his discretion when it comes to enforcing laws and drafting regulations. If the bill is approved by one body of Congress, it goes to the other body to go through a similar process of research, discussion, changes and voting.
Learn how a bill becomes law and how the process is different in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The president can veto bills passed by Congress, but Congress can also override a veto with two-thirds of the votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. To pass a bill and send it to the President for signature, both the House and the Senate must approve the same bill by a majority vote. Like a bill, a joint resolution requires the approval of both houses in an identical form and the president's signature to become law.
If the president doesn't take any action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. When the House of Representatives or the Senate approves a bill, it is referred to the other chamber, where it usually follows the same route: it goes through committees and finally goes to the plenary.
