The Legislative Process:
Steps to Building a Law
The legislative process begins with the introduction of a bill to Congress, which must be done by a member of Congress, though anyone can write a bill.
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Interest groups seek to affect government legislation and policy to benefit themselves or their causes. Their goal could be a policy that exclusively benefits group members or one segment of society (for example, government subsidies for farmers) or a policy that advances a broader public purpose (for example, protecting the environment).
Lobbyists attempt to bring pressure to bear on legislators and policy makers to gain legislative and policy outcomes in their favor. The term lobbying originated in the efforts to influence the votes of legislators that generally took place in the lobby outside of the legislative chamber.
The bill is then referred to committee—first to a subcommittee, where it can be accepted, amended, or rejected, then to a full committee
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Committees: It is generally recognized that the most important work of a modern legislative body is done in committee. This is true partly because the sheer bulk of legislation prevents individual members from considering each measure at length and partly because much legislation is highly complex and technical in nature and thus requires consideration by experts. Membership on an influential committee is highly prized by legislators in view of the importance of the function performed by committees. Technical staffs serve the committees by collecting information, performing research, and preparing legislation. Each house of Congress has a number of standing (permanent) committees and select (special and temporary) committees.
If the bill is reported to the floor of the House or Senate, its consideration is scheduled by the majority leadership.
Debate in the House is very structured: members have only a few minutes to speak and the kind and number of amendments is limited.
Debate in the Senate is generally unlimited and any amendment may be introduced.
Senators can use the filibuster (refusing to relinquish the floor) to delay vote on a bill.
A filibuster can be broken by a vote of cloture (ending debate) by three-fifths of the Senate.
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The filibuster is a tactic used by a minority of senators—sometimes just a single Senator—to delay or prevent action by talking so long that the majority either grants concessions or withdraws the bill. Speeches can be completely irrelevant to the issue.
Cloture is a method for ending debate and moving toward a vote on a measure. A three-fifths vote of the Senate is necessary to end a filibuster. Debate may then continue for only 30 more hours.
With the end of debate, a simple majority vote can pass the bill.
A bill must pass both houses of Congress with identical language before it can be sent for the president’s approval.
To resolve differences between House and Senate versions of a bill, a conference committee, with members from both houses, is convened.
A negotiated version, called the conference report, which is intended as the final version of the bill, is then returned to both chambers for a vote.
If it passes in both houses, it is sent to the president.
The president can sign the bill into law or veto and return it to Congress.
A presidential veto of a bill can be overturned by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
If the president takes no action on a bill for 10 days, the bill enters into law.
If Congress adjourns before the 10 days pass, the president can pocket veto the bill by taking no action and forcing a restart of the legislative process.