CONGRESS - pathway of legislation

Question 1

1. INTRODUCTION OF LAWS

Answer 1

bills can begin either in the House or Senate.

a bill is received by the leading member of that House.

only around 2-4% of bills become laws.

Question 2

2. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

Answer 2

in the last 6 congresses, the % of bills that got a vote on the floor of at least one chamber has always been 7% or less.

bills that don’t make it past the committee stage are known as being pigeon-holed.

the final amended bill must pass a vote on the entire committee - only the committee has seen it.

Question 3

3. SCHEDULING

Answer 3

majority party controls the passage of legislation.

House Rules Committee decide the rules on each debate = it has significant control.

majority party controls the passage of legislation.

closed debates = ones where no amendments can be made to the bill.

current make-up = 13 seats, 9 Dems, 4 Reps –> DEM MAJ

Question 4

4. FLOOR ACTION

Answer 4

House of Reps = debates are time-limited

Senate = unlimited debate (filibusters)

filibusters can be ended by a cloture motion, which is a procedure that requires the agreement of 60 senators.

2022 Jan = Dems failed in passing legislation to make filibusters difficult to pass through voting reform legislation. This is because of Manchin and Sinema (48-52)

Question 5

5. RESOLVING DIFFERENCES

Answer 5

conference committee is set up to resolve differences between House and Senate = this is to create one cohesive bill from the two different bills passed by each chamber.

final bill produced must go back to each House for approval before it is sent to the president.

no of these committees have fallen sharply because of the increase in two more informal methods of reconciling bills = ping-ponging bills, or take it or leave it (adjourning chamber = forces other chamber to accept the other’s version of the bill/drop it completely)

Question 6

6. PRESIDENTIAL ACTION

Answer 6

a) sign the bill
b) leave it on his desk - 10 days of not signing whilst congress still being session.
c) veto the bill - congress can override the veto, amend the bill, and send it back or allow it to die (2/3s of each chamber)
d) pocket veto = if the congressional session ends before these 10 days, the bill dies in a process called the pocket veto.