Lawmaking

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

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

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

Budget Reconciliation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Filibuster and Cloture

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

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

The Presidential Veto and Override

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

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