Processes

How things actually get done: lawmaking, budgeting, appointments, elections, rulemaking, oversight, and emergency powers. · 122 entries

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Executive Orders

Written directives from the President to the executive branch: what they can do, what they cannot, and how they are undone

Government Shutdowns

What happens when appropriations lapse: furloughs, closed parks, and essential work done without pay

Federal Rulemaking

How agencies turn laws into binding regulations through notice and comment, White House review, and judicial oversight

Judicial Review

The power of courts to strike down laws and government actions that violate the Constitution

Browse by Subcategory

How a bill moves from introduction to committee to the floor to the President, and the rules that speed or stall it.

Appropriations, the budget process, the debt ceiling, shutdowns, and where federal dollars come from and go.

Appointments & Oversight

Confirmations, removals, hearings, subpoenas, and impeachment: how Congress checks the executive.

Elections & Representation

The Electoral College, apportionment, redistricting, the census, succession, and how officeholders are chosen and replaced.

Executive Action

Executive orders, rulemaking, pardons, treaties, emergencies, and the other tools a President uses without Congress.

Judicial Process

How cases reach the Supreme Court, how judges are chosen, and how precedent, standing, and jurisdiction work.

Security & Emergency

War powers, classification, disaster declarations, and the legal machinery of national emergencies.

All Processes (A–Z) A–Z By date

2 A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V W

2

The 25th Amendment in Practice

How the amendment on presidential succession and disability has actually been used: two vice presidential appointments, several temporary transfers of power, and the never-used Section 4

A

Acting Officials and the Vacancies Act

The rules that govern who may temporarily perform the duties of a vacant Senate-confirmed office, and for how long, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998

Advice and Consent

The Senate's constitutional role in approving the President's treaties and senior appointments

Amendments and Riders

How members change bills on the floor and in committee, the rules on which amendments are allowed, and riders, the provisions attached to must-pass bills

Friend-of-the-court briefs filed by people and groups who are not parties to a case, offering arguments, expertise, or perspectives to influence the court's decision

How the 435 House seats are divided among the states after every census

The laws that actually let the government spend money, and the constitutional rule that nothing can be spent without one

Authorization vs. Appropriation

The two-step process in which Congress first authorizes a program and sets its rules, then separately appropriates the money to pay for it

B

Bill Introduction and Sponsorship

How legislation formally enters Congress: who may introduce a bill, how it is numbered and referred, and what sponsors and cosponsors do

The Senate Judiciary Committee tradition that lets home-state senators approve or block nominees for federal judgeships and U.S. attorney posts in their state

Budget Reconciliation

The fast-track procedure that lets tax and spending bills pass the Senate by simple majority, immune from filibuster

Budget Resolutions

The concurrent resolution in which Congress sets overall spending and revenue targets for the year and can unlock the fast-track reconciliation process

The Senate rule that bars extraneous provisions from budget reconciliation bills, limiting what a majority can pass without facing a filibuster

C

Campaign Finance

The laws on raising and spending money in federal elections, from contribution limits and disclosure to super PACs, and the court rulings that shape them

Censure and Expulsion

How the House and Senate discipline their own members, from reprimand and censure by majority vote to expulsion by a two-thirds vote

The constitutionally required count of every person in the country every ten years, and what it decides

Certification and the Electoral Count

The steps between Election Day and Inauguration Day: state certification, the meeting of electors, and the counting of electoral votes in a joint session of Congress on January 6

The process by which the Supreme Court decides which cases to hear, granting review of only about 1 percent of the thousands of petitions it receives each year

Classification and Security Clearances

The system that marks national security information as Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, and the background investigations that decide who may see it

Code of Federal Regulations

The official, subject-by-subject compilation of all federal regulations currently in force, organized into 50 titles and updated continuously online

Committee Markup

The committee meeting where members debate, amend, and vote on a bill line by line before deciding whether to report it to the full House or Senate

Congressional Elections

How the 435 representatives and 100 senators are chosen, every two years, and how vacancies are filled

Congressional Hearings

The public sessions in which committees take testimony to consider legislation, oversee agencies, investigate wrongdoing, and review nominations

Congressional Oversight

How Congress investigates and monitors the executive branch, and the limits on that power

Congressional Review Act

The 1996 law that lets Congress overturn recently issued agency rules by a simple-majority joint resolution and bars agencies from reissuing substantially the same rule

Continuing Resolutions

The stopgap spending laws that keep the government open when the regular appropriations bills are late, which is nearly every year

Continuity of Government

The plans, laws, and secret facilities designed to keep the federal government functioning if a catastrophe kills or incapacitates its leaders

D

The Debt Ceiling

The statutory limit on how much the Treasury may borrow to pay bills Congress has already approved

Declarations of War and AUMFs

Congress's power to declare war, used formally 11 times, and the authorizations for use of military force that have replaced declarations since World War II

Disaster Declarations

How a governor's request and a President's signature release federal aid after hurricanes, floods, fires, and other disasters

Discharge Petition

The House procedure that lets a majority of members, 218 signatures, force a bill out of committee and onto the floor over the objections of leadership

The Draft and Selective Service

The history of military conscription in the United States, its end in 1973, and the registration system that remains in place for men ages 18 to 25

E

Provisions in spending bills that direct money to specific projects requested by individual members of Congress, banned in 2011 and restored with new rules in 2021

Economic Sanctions

The financial and trade restrictions the United States imposes on foreign governments, companies, and individuals, administered mainly by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control

The Electoral College

How Americans actually choose a President: 538 electors, 270 to win, and the state-by-state rules behind them

Rehearing of a case by all the active judges of a federal court of appeals, rather than a three-judge panel, used rarely for especially important questions or to resolve conflicts

Entitlement Programs

Federal programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that pay benefits automatically to everyone who qualifies, making up the bulk of mandatory spending

Ethics and Financial Disclosure

The rules that require members of Congress, senior officials, and judges to report their finances, limit gifts and conflicts of interest, and the bodies that enforce them

Executive Orders

Written directives from the President to the executive branch: what they can do, what they cannot, and how they are undone

F

The Federal Budget Process

How a roughly seven trillion dollar budget is proposed, debated, and enacted each year, at least on paper

The Federal Deficit and Debt

The yearly gap between spending and revenue, the accumulated debt it creates, and why both are growing

The Federal Fiscal Year

The federal government's budget year, which runs from October 1 to September 30 and sets the deadline for passing annual appropriations

Federal Grants to States

The more than $1 trillion a year that the federal government sends to state and local governments for health care, transportation, education, and other programs, and the conditions attached

Federal Jurisdiction

The limits on which cases federal courts may hear, set by Article III and by Congress, including federal question and diversity cases, and Congress's power to expand or restrict them

The Federal Register

The government's daily journal of rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents

Federal Rulemaking

How agencies turn laws into binding regulations through notice and comment, White House review, and judicial oversight

Federal Taxation

How the federal government raises revenue, from individual income and payroll taxes to corporate taxes, excise taxes, and tariffs, and how tax law is written

The Filibuster and Cloture

How unlimited Senate debate became a sixty-vote requirement for most legislation, and the exceptions carved into it

Freedom of Information Act

The law that lets anyone request records from federal agencies, and the nine exemptions that let agencies withhold them

G

Government Contracting and Procurement

How the federal government buys more than $700 billion a year in goods and services from private companies, under rules meant to ensure competition and fair dealing

Government Reorganization Authority

The power, once delegated by Congress to the President, to restructure federal agencies by submitting reorganization plans, and the limits on doing so without new legislation

Government Shutdowns

What happens when appropriations lapse: furloughs, closed parks, and essential work done without pay

H

House Floor Procedure

How the House debates and passes bills: special rules from the Rules Committee, suspension of the rules, the Committee of the Whole, and majority control of the floor

House vs. Senate Rules

Why the House runs on majority control and the Senate on consent, and how that shapes everything Congress does

How a Bill Becomes Law

From introduction to committee to the floor to the President's desk, and the many places a bill can die along the way

How a Case Reaches the Supreme Court

From a lower-court loss to a petition for certiorari, the rule of four, oral argument, and a decision by the end of June

I

How Congress can remove a President, judge, or other civil officer: a House accusation and a Senate trial

Impeachment of Judges

The constitutional process for removing federal judges, used 15 times in the House and eight times leading to removal, almost always for corruption or criminal conduct rather than rulings

Impoundment and Rescissions

The President's refusal to spend money Congress has appropriated, and the 1974 law that requires Congress to approve any permanent cancellation of funds

Injunctions and Nationwide Injunctions

Court orders that block government or private action, including universal injunctions that halt a federal policy for everyone, which the Supreme Court curtailed in 2025

The Insurrection Act

The 1807 law that lets the President deploy the military inside the United States to suppress insurrection, domestic violence, or obstruction of federal law, the main exception to the Posse Comitatus Act

J

Judicial Nominations

How federal judges and Supreme Court justices are selected, vetted, and confirmed, and why the fights have intensified

Judicial Review

The power of courts to strike down laws and government actions that violate the Constitution

L

Lame-Duck Session

The period after a November election and before the new Congress convenes in January, when outgoing members, including those who lost, still vote on legislation

M

Mandatory vs. Discretionary Spending

Why most federal spending is never voted on in the annual budget, and what the yearly fight is actually about

Midterm Elections

The federal elections held halfway through a presidential term, when every House seat, about a third of the Senate, and most governorships are on the ballot

N

National Emergencies

How a presidential declaration unlocks more than a hundred special powers, and why so many emergencies never end

National Party Conventions

The quadrennial gatherings where each major party formally nominates its presidential and vice presidential candidates and adopts a platform

National Security Decision-Making

How the President makes foreign policy and defense decisions through the National Security Council system of principals, deputies, and interagency committees

Notice and Comment

The process under the Administrative Procedure Act by which agencies propose regulations, invite public comment, and respond before issuing a final rule

The Nuclear Football and Command Authority

The briefcase that follows the President everywhere and the system that gives the President sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons

The Nuclear Option

The Senate tactic of changing how its rules apply by simple majority vote, by overruling the chair to set a new precedent, rather than amending the rules with a supermajority

O

OIRA and Regulatory Review

The White House office that reviews significant agency regulations before they are issued, weighs their costs and benefits, and coordinates the President's regulatory agenda

Large bills that package many separate measures, often several or all of the annual spending bills, into a single vote, along with smaller minibus packages

Oral Argument and Opinions

How the Supreme Court hears cases in public argument, decides them in private conference, and explains its decisions in majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions

P

The President's power to kill a bill by not signing it when Congress's adjournment prevents its return, a veto that Congress cannot override

Political Parties

The organizations that recruit candidates, run campaigns, and organize government, unmentioned in the Constitution but central to how American politics works

Posse Comitatus and Domestic Deployment

The 1878 law barring federal troops from civilian law enforcement, its exceptions, the National Guard's role, and the 2025 deployments to American cities

The President's Budget

The annual spending and revenue proposal the President sends to Congress, prepared by the Office of Management and Budget, which opens each year's budget process

The President's Daily Brief

The highly classified daily intelligence summary prepared for the President and a few top officials, produced by the intelligence community since the 1960s

Presidential Directives and National Security Memoranda

The often-classified directives presidents issue through the National Security Council to set foreign, defense, and intelligence policy, renamed by nearly every administration

Presidential Elections

From primaries and caucuses to conventions, the general election, and inauguration: the four-year cycle of choosing a President

Presidential Inauguration

The ceremony at noon on January 20 at which the President takes the constitutional oath of office and formally begins a four-year term

Presidential Pardons

The President's nearly unlimited power to forgive federal crimes, and the controversies it has produced

Presidential Succession

Who becomes President if the office falls vacant, and what happens when a President is temporarily unable to serve

Presidential Transition and Inauguration

The roughly eleven weeks between Election Day and January 20, when one administration hands the government to the next

The Presidential Veto and Override

The President's power to reject bills, the pocket veto, and the two-thirds vote Congress needs to override

Primaries and Caucuses

How parties choose their nominees, through state-run primary elections and party-run caucuses, including the calendar and delegate rules for presidential nominations

Proclamations and Memoranda

Two kinds of presidential directives alongside executive orders: proclamations addressed to the public, from holidays to tariffs and national monuments, and memoranda instructing agencies

Public Laws and the U.S. Code

What happens to a bill after it becomes law: slip laws, the Statutes at Large, and the 54 titles of the United States Code

R

Recess Appointments

The President's constitutional power to fill vacancies temporarily, without Senate confirmation, when the Senate is in recess

Recesses and Pro Forma Sessions

How Congress takes breaks, the constitutional limits on adjourning, and the brief pro forma sessions held to block recess appointments and pocket vetoes

Redistricting and Gerrymandering

How states redraw congressional districts, the rules that constrain them, and the fight over drawing lines for partisan advantage

Reductions in Force

The formal federal layoff procedure agencies use to eliminate positions, governed by rules on retention, veterans' preference, and notice, and used on a large scale in 2025

The Rule of Four

The unwritten Supreme Court practice that a case will be heard if four of the nine Justices vote to grant review, letting a minority set part of the Court's agenda

S

The Senate Confirmation Process

The path from nomination to confirmation: paperwork, background checks, hearings, committee votes, and the floor

Senate Floor Procedure

How the Senate takes up and passes legislation and nominations: the motion to proceed, unlimited debate, cloture, amendments, and agreements by unanimous consent

The informal practice by which a senator notifies party leaders of an intent to object to a bill or nomination, effectively delaying it by denying unanimous consent

Automatic, across-the-board spending cuts triggered when Congress exceeds budget limits, used as an enforcement mechanism since 1985

Sessions of Congress

How Congress's calendar is organized into numbered two-year Congresses, each with two regular sessions, and the rules on when Congress meets, adjourns, and can be called back

The Shadow Docket

The Supreme Court's emergency docket of stays and injunctions decided quickly, often without full briefing, argument, or explanation, which has grown into a major arena for national policy

Signing Statements

The written statements Presidents issue when signing bills into law, sometimes praising the law and sometimes declaring that they will not enforce provisions they consider unconstitutional

Simple, Concurrent, and Joint Resolutions

The three kinds of resolutions Congress uses besides bills: simple resolutions for one chamber, concurrent resolutions for both chambers, and joint resolutions that can become law

The Social Security Trust Funds

The two Treasury accounts that hold Social Security's payroll tax surpluses in special government bonds, and the projections of when their reserves will run out

Special Elections

Elections held outside the regular calendar to fill vacancies in Congress and other offices, which can shift narrow majorities and serve as signals of the national mood

The constitutional requirement that a person suing in federal court show a concrete injury caused by the defendant that the court can remedy, a key limit on who may challenge government action

Standing and Jurisdiction

The threshold rules that decide whether a federal court can hear a case at all

State of the Union

The President's annual report to Congress required by the Constitution, now delivered as a televised address to a joint session in the House chamber

Subpoenas and Contempt of Congress

How Congress compels testimony and documents, and what happens to witnesses who refuse

Supplemental Appropriations

Additional spending bills passed during the fiscal year for needs not covered by regular appropriations, such as disasters, wars, and economic emergencies

The Supreme Court Term

The Court's annual calendar, which begins on the first Monday in October and runs through late June or early July, with alternating sittings for argument and recesses for writing

T

Tariffs and Trade Authority

How the constitutional power to set tariffs, which belongs to Congress, came to be largely delegated to the President, and the 2025 fight over emergency tariffs

The limits on how long officials may serve, from the two-term presidential limit of the Twenty-second Amendment to state limits on governors and legislators, and the debate over limits for Congress

Minor parties and independent candidates outside the two major parties, which rarely win national office but have shaped issues and election outcomes

Treaties and Executive Agreements

The three ways the United States makes international commitments, and why formal treaties have become the exception

The Twelve Appropriations Bills

The annual spending bills, one for each Appropriations subcommittee, that fund the discretionary operations of every federal agency

The Two-Party System

Why American politics has been dominated by two major parties, the electoral rules that sustain the pattern, and proposals to change it

U

Unanimous Consent

The practice by which Congress, especially the Senate, sets aside its rules and moves business quickly when no member objects, and the power it gives any single member to slow things down

V

Vacancies in Congress

What happens when a seat in the House or Senate becomes empty through death, resignation, or expulsion, how it is filled, and how vacancies affect narrow majorities

Voter Registration and Eligibility

Who may vote in U.S. elections, how the right expanded through constitutional amendments and federal laws, and how states register voters and maintain voter rolls

W

Who decides when the United States goes to war: Congress's power to declare it, the President's command, and the long contest between them

Whistleblower Protections

The federal laws that protect government employees and contractors who report waste, fraud, abuse, or illegal conduct from retaliation, and the channels for making such reports