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The United States Congress and the Federal Legislative Process
Citizens can facilitate a better understanding of the federal process by attending committee
hearings, either at the state or the federal level. Cable television’s C-SPAN also regularly
broadcasts congressional committee hearings, floor debates and floor votes.
Many of the bills considered by Congress are bills to reauthorize expiring laws and bills
appropriating money to run the federal government.
Introduction and Referral
The first step in the legislative process is the introduction of a bill. Bills are introduced by a
member of Congress, called a sponsor, or by a group of members, or co-sponsors. Most bills
are referred to House or Senate committees for review, but in some cases, such as a national
emergency, bills are sent directly to the House or Senate floor for consideration by the full
membership of both bodies.
Most legislative proposals are bills. Upon introduction, all bills are assigned a bill number.
House bills receive the designation “H.R.,” and Senate bills are designated by an “S,”
followed by the number of the bill.
To become a law, a bill must be passed in the same form by majority in both the U.S. House
and Senate. It is then sent to the president for signature. If the president vetoes the bill, it is
returned to the house in which it was first passed, where a two-thirds majority vote can
override the veto. Ultimately, a bill must receive a two-thirds vote from both houses to
override a presidential veto and become law.
The Speaker of the House and the presiding officer of the Senate are formally assigned the
job of referring bills to appropriate committees in their respective chambers. A bill may be
referred to a single committee or multiple committees, depending upon the number of
jurisdictional areas each bill addresses.
Committee Consideration
Consideration by committee is the most important stage of the legislative process. It often is
the most active single stage of the legislative process and is where most substantial legislative
work is accomplished. It is also the stage during which most legislative proposals die. The
committee stage provides the best opportunity for interested parties to get involved.
Upon referral to committee, the committee chair often refers the bill to a subcommittee,
which is comprised of members of the full committee. Both committees and subcommittees
function in much the same manner, conducting hearings, debating, and modifying, or
“marking up,” the legislation.
Committee hearings are a forum in which to gather information about a bill and its
implications. During a hearing, panels of private or public witnesses present testimony.
Committee members review the bill on a line-by-line, or section-by-section basis.
Amendments may be offered and, if approved by a majority of the committee members,
incorporated into the bill.
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After a committee votes to report out a bill, it drafts a committee report explaining the
committee’s actions, noting changes in existing law, and usually including the views of
executive branch agencies. The intent of the report is to persuade other members to support
or oppose the bill.
U.S. House and Senate Procedures Differ
There are many differences between procedures in the House and Senate. The House, due in
part to its larger size and complexity, operates on more formal rules. The smaller Senate is
capable of engaging more informally and is more prone to change its rules of procedure to
suit a specific situation. This means there are generally more opportunities to amend and
revise legislation on the Senate floor than in the House.
Full House Consideration
Determination of scheduling for floor consideration of legislation is the responsibility of the
majority party leadership and the House Rules Committee, which also is majority-controlled.
However, the House must operate within specific rules that limit which kinds of bills can go
directly to the floor.
Legislation generally is divided into two categories: minor and non-controversial or major
and controversial. Into which category a bill falls determines its scheduling treatment in the
House. The House Rules Committee can adopt “special rules” to allow a bill to go directly to
the floor for immediate consideration. It also specifies the length of debate permitted on the
floor and the amendments that can be offered.
“The Committee of the Whole”
Following adoption of the “special rule” to bring a bill directly to the floor, the Speaker of
the House may resort to a parliamentary procedure that allows the House to dissolve into
the “Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,” a quorum of 100 members
(rather than the 218 needed in the House). Commonly referred to as the “Committee of the
Whole,” the procedure is used to speed up deliberation of a bill. Once the motion is
adopted, the Speaker of the House steps down, allowing a member of the majority party to
assume the role of chair and preside over the meeting.
General debate begins the first part of the floor consideration process. Members make
supporting or opposing arguments, ask and answer questions, or rebut other members’
arguments. After the general debate, any members may offer amendments to the bill.
However, members of the reporting committee are given preference to introduce
amendments. Each amendment may be debated under the five-minute rule, which allows
any member to speak on the issue for five minutes.
House Voting
Following passage of the bill by the Committee of the Whole, the committee reports back to
the House, and the Speaker resumes as chair. The bill then is voted on by the full House.
The House may vote on separate amendments of the bill and approve a third reading. The
Speaker announces a voice vote and decides, based on volume, which side prevailed. A
member of the losing side may request a recorded vote, after which the members vote by
machine, with the results being shown on a tote board located behind the Speaker’s rostrum.
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Finally, the House votes on final passage. Under House rules, a vote is not final until there
has been an opportunity to reconsider it. Therefore, after a vote, a motion to reconsider the
bill is made and “laid on the table.” The bill then goes to the Senate for consideration. The
Senate may be considering, or may already have passed, a companion bill. If the legislative
language of the House-passed version differs from the Senate version, members of both
houses will convene in conference to resolve differences between the two bills.
Full Senate Consideration
Once a committee has reported out a bill, it is scheduled for floor consideration in the
Senate, in much the same manner as the House. It is important to understand how the
Senate defines a day. A “calendar” day is simply a 24-hour period. A “legislative” day is the
period of time following the adjournment of either House until it next adjourns. A recess,
which the Senate does at the end of each day, is not an adjournment. If the Senate were to
adjourn at the end of each business day, as the House does, its legislative days would
coincide with calendar days.
Floor debate in the Senate is markedly different from debate in the House, primarily because
of its informality. Senators’ views receive consideration on a more individual basis. Debate
begins with the opportunity for Senators to make opening statements with no restrictions on
how long they may speak. Such open, non-restrictive rules of debate create the possibility for
a filibuster. A filibuster is a tactic used to stall or kill consideration of amendments by
insisting that each motion of an amendment be read and debated in full.
The only procedure available to stop a filibuster is to “invoke cloture.” Two-fifths of the
Senate must vote to invoke cloture. This does not necessarily cut off debate, but it limits
debate to a period of no more than 30 hours. However, because the freedom to unlimited
debate is an important part of the history and spirit of the Senate, attempts to limit debate
are rare, as are filibusters.
Another difference between the Senate and the House is apparent during the amendment
process. Amendments by committees reporting the bill are considered first. However,
Senators may offer floor amendments to those amendments, or to the part of the bill the
committee’s amendment seeks to change. The Senate must vote on floor amendments
before voting on amendments from reporting committees. Following debate of all
amendments, the bill is ordered “engrossed” – printed with all the changes – and ordered to
be read a third time.
Senate Voting
The process of voting on final passage in the Senate is similar to that of the House. Bills
must pass by a numerical majority – 51 in the Senate. Most bills are passed by voice vote
only, the results of which are determined by the presiding officer. A roll-call recorded vote
may be demanded by one-fifth of the Senate (20 Senators).
Resolving Differences
Differences between House- and Senate-passed versions of a bill can be worked out without
a conference committee, either through informal consultation of members and staff of both
chambers or through an agreement by one chamber to adopt amendments contained in the
other chamber’s version.
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The U.S. Constitution requires that, to become law, a bill must be passed by both houses in
identical form. If there are differences between the House and Senate-passed bills, a
conference committee is called to iron out the differences. A typical conference committee
consists of seven or eight members from each chamber. According to the rules, conferees
are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the presiding officer in the Senate. However,
the chairman and ranking committee member of the committee(s) reporting out the bill in
question usually select the conferees from the subcommittees or committees that originally
handled the legislation.
Conferees may deliberate only on areas of difference between the two houses. Each side
enters the process hoping to prevail, recommending amendments or changes, or suggesting
that the other chamber withdraw its amendments. Negotiations proceed until a majority vote
of each side is achieved.
The conference committee then issues a conference report that is not subject to further
amendment. If the report is rejected by either chamber, the other chamber is notified, and
another conference may be requested. If the bill is agreed to in identical form by both
chambers, as required by the Constitution, it is enrolled by the clerk of the house in which
the bill originated. The bill then is signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of
the Senate before being sent to the President for signature.
Presidential Action
The President’s receipt of a bill for signature is seldom the first time the White House and
the administration have been involved in the legislative process. The bill itself may have been
drafted and introduced on behalf of the President. While the President and members of the
administration may, in some cases, have little success in influencing legislation, the President
has enormous legislative power at this point as a result of his ability to veto legislation.
Upon receipt of a bill, the President has 10 days (excluding Sundays) in which to take action.
If the President has not signed the bill or returned it to Congress by that time, the bill
becomes law automatically, without the President’s signature. If the President vetoes the
bill, it is returned to the chamber from which it originated with a veto message from the
President. No debate is allowed before a vote on a veto, and the Constitution requires that
the vote be a formal, recorded roll call.
There is such thing as a “pocket veto.” If a bill reaches the President near the end of a
congressional session, too late to permit the 10-day signing period before adjournment of
Congress, and if the President decides not to sign the bill, the bill need not be returned to
Congress. It just dies. A presidential veto is rarely overridden. Such an action requires a twothirds majority vote by both chambers. If Congress overrides a presidential veto, the bill
becomes law.