The general process by
which a piece of legislation (a bill) becomes federal law in the
United States is dictated by the Constitution. Both the House and
Senate must pass an identical bill, which then must be signed by the
president in order to have the force of law.
In actuality, this
seemingly simple process is quite complicated, and comprises many
stages. Below you will find three different forms of the process:
basic written, a chart and lastly the video “It’s a Bill.” If you
are 45 years old or younger you will remember this last one.
Schoolhouse
Rock
How a Bill Becomes a Law
SUBMISSION
1. A bill is submitted,
or introduced, in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.
The bill must pass the legislative chamber in which it is submitted
by a majority vote.
COMMITTEES
2. Before being voted on
by the entire House or Senate, bills are frequently sent to specific
committees for preliminary review. If the bill fails to get the
committee's approval, it will not be voted on by the full chamber.
THE SECOND HOUSE
3. Once the bill passes
the chamber in which it was introduced, it goes to the second for
approval. The entire approval process is repeated in the second
house. A bill must pass both chambers before it can become a law.
CONFERENCE
4. If both houses pass
the bill with changes, the bill will go to a conference committee
including members of both chambers to reconcile the differences. If
the conference committee cannot craft a version of the bill to which
both houses agree, the bill dies. Both chambers must pass the exact
same version of the bill.
PRESIDENTIAL SIGNATURE
5. Once the bill passes
both houses, it goes to the president for his signature. The
president may sign the bill into law or ignore it. If he ignores it
for more than 10 days, and there are more than 10 days left in the
congressional session, the bill automatically becomes law.
VETO
6. The president can
reject a bill by vetoing it. Congress can override a veto with a
two-thirds majority vote in each chamber, but gathering that much
support is often impossible. If fewer than 10 days remain before
Congress adjourns, the president may "pocket veto" the bill by
ignoring it.
