summary:

1. bill introduced

2. referred to appropriate committee

3. subcommittee review n mark up (from here, the bill can fail)

4. committee review, mark up and vote on bill

5. chamber debates and votes on bill

6. other chamber considers bill

7. conference committee

8. both chambers vote on final bill

9. president signature

10. bill becomes law

1. first reading

• must pass both houses during Congress (has 2 years to pass)

• same in both houses, merely a formality

• no debate

• no vote

• speaker assigns legislature to appropriate committee

2. committee stage

• committee stage

  • broken into sub-committees

• many bills don’t get out » pigeon-holed

• bills w lots of support get heard

  • house, congress, interest groups, etc

• committee members are specialists

• witnesses called n questioned

• power of amendment

  • can pass, amend or reject

• reported out ie goes to floor if vote in favour

• bill can be thrown out at this stage

  • slow coz of witness

3. timetabling

• find time for consideration whole chamber

• house rules committee » 2:1 in favour of majority

• can set time limits n rules for level of debate

• therefore controls what passes vs powerful

4. second reading

• considered by whole chamber

• further amendments made

• in senate-tradition, everyone who wants to speak can

  • potential filibuster (someone talking so much that a vote can’t happen within the time)

• 60 senators must vote for cloture-motion to stop debate allowing determine minorities to end a bill

• simple majority pass

5. third reading

• final debate

• if big amendments made after 2nd reading » substantial debate

• if minor amendments n large vote in favour, 3rd reading brief, further vote taken

6. conference committee

• optional

• if big difference between bill agrees by house n senate due to amendments a conference committee (reps) from both chambers repped

• if bill not approved by end of congressional terms - 2 years - process must start all over again

7. presidential action

• 4 options

• 10 days to act

• signed into law

• can veto bill

• veto can be overridden by 2/3 majority

• pocket veto » president could ‘forget’ to sign the bill or otherwise take no action at the end of Congress = dead bill » cannot be overturned

• pres could leave the bill on desk = becomes law after 10 working days

why is the legislative process difficult?

weak parties n weak leaders

• due to the separation of powers n federalism, parties tend to be weak w many factions

• party leaders also have limited power over their own party, with ineffective patronage n whipping

• result: parties don’t act as a single unit in passing legislation = difficult to pass laws

• the rise in partisanship can help the passage of legislation through Congress, but this is of little use if the presidency is controlled by a different party or the House n Senate have split control eg 2010-14

• partisanship here can cause high levels of gridlock, where President, House n Senate fail to agree n legislation cannot be passed

increased partisanship

• the Repub party was criticised for excessive partisanship during the Obama presidency w some politicians seeming to oppose any policy supported by Obama

• eg: the then-House budget committee Chair Tom Price refused to begin committee consideration of Obama’s final $4-trillion-budget proposal

• voting between parties has become more divergent than at any other period since WW2

• moreover: political middle has disappeared » declines in moderate Conservatives n Blue Dog Democrats

conservation preferred over progression

• certain degree of negativity that is part of the obstructionist’s platform

• republicans n some moderates of both parties » not progressive

• wish for things to remain the same, even when outdated

• look @ new ideas with preconceived ideas of failure

controversy

• controversial bills require negotiation

• often won’t pass unless sponsored by majority party

• even then, weak links can be found to vote against the bill

• weak party discipline in congressional system often means party members have little to gain from voting along party lines » would rather follow personal/constituent ops

political action-less committees

• legislative process bestows power on the committee system, allowing a committee to simply ‘table’ a bill

• tabling a bill/piece of legislation means that it’s set aside for later consideration

• whether or not it’s ‘dead’ depends upon how many in the legislature want it considered later, how much other legislation is under consideration - and how much pressure they can bring to bear on the committee chair(s) to bring tabled item up for active consideration

presidential veto

• allows president to return legislation to Congress unsigned

• Congress can only override this veto with a 2/3 majority in both Congress Houses

  • difficult to achieve, esp if the bill is considered to be partisan or controversial

filibuster

• allows the minority in the Senate to delay/defeat any piece of legislation

• sometimes filibuster threat cant force small majrity to negotiate further w minority

• filibuster: in the Senate (unlike the House), bill-related speeches have no time limits

• against rules in the Senate for majority member to end a debate in order to vote

• eg: Strom Thurmond talked non-stop for over 24h in 1957 » Congress record

• to end a filibuster, Senators can invoke what’s known as a cloture (call for a vote) » 3/5 (60) must vote or sometimes, 2/3 of those present

  • can only happen 2 days after cloture has been proposed n signed by 16 senators

  • even after cloture: still 30 more hours allowed, where Senators can speak for no more than an hour

• during gw bush’s presidency, the Dems used filibusters so effectively that Repubs considered changing the rules to make the process more difficult to achieve

  • Dems lost their ‘supermajority’ of 60, shortly before 2010 midterms, made their position far more difficult

majority rules

• if a party has a majority in both Congressional houses, theoretically, they’ll be able to pass most of their party platform legislation (providing there’s nothing too controversial)

  • ease of passing legislation is usually proportional to the size of the majority

strengths n weaknesses

evaluate the view that congress is effective in its legislative role