What branch holds hearings about a bill

The committee chair decides where the bill goes next, if he of she feels it requires further action. The political agenda of the majority party and the committee chair, as well as the committee's rules , all come into play at this point. The committee chair can refer the bill to one or more subcommittees based on their jurisdictions as listed in the committee rules, or the chair can hold the bill at the full committee level and not refer it to a subcommittee. Holding the bill at full committee level means one of two things: either the bill will be acted on quickly or it is being suppressed and will die from neglect.

Table of Contents Show

How Are Laws Made?
The Legislative Process
Powers of Congress
Government Oversight

Tip: This is one of the stages where things can get tricky. A committee isn't required to act on measures referred to it; neither is a subcommittee. It only takes one subcommittee or committee to trip up a bill's progress, and it can happen without any visible activity. For example, if the leadership decides the bill does not fit within its overall agenda, a decision not to act will "kill" the bill just as effectively as a vote against it. The only way for a member to get the bill out of the committee should this happen is to use a discharge petition.

One of the standard activities that committees undertake with legislation is to hold a hearing on the proposed legislation. If the chair decides to schedule a hearing on a bill, it can be held by either the subcommittee or the full committee. If a subcommittee holds a hearing on a bill, the full committee generally does not repeat the process. If the leadership of a subcommittee or the full committee decides to ignore the bill by not holding hearings, the bill is effectively killed.

The chair invites witnesses to appear at hearings to testify on the subject, but only at investigative hearings do witnesses testify under oath. Testimony at a legislative hearing or at an oversight hearing is not sworn testimony and often consists of political posturing. The Administration almost always is invited to send witnesses (usually high-ranking officials from the agency that would be responsible for implementing the bill). The bill's sponsor or most important co-sponsor(s) are expected to appear to defend their proposed legislation. Other invited witnesses can include lobbyists from industry, public interest groups, or local governments that might be affected by the proposal. Private citizens interested in or knowledgeable about an issue also may be invited to appear at the hearing. Those not asked to appear before the committee can submit written statements that will be included in the hearing record.

Tip: Material submitted for the hearing record frequently appears in an appendix at the end of the official transcript printed by the GPO and is available in the CIS microfiche collection and the Congressional Hearings Digital Collection. Often not specifically discussed during the hearing itself, material contained in the appendix can contain useful information.

Witnesses' prepared statements, as well as the verbal portion of the hearing (including the question-and-answer session), are recorded and transcribed by several commercial services and are available on ProQuest® Congressional within a few days of the hearing. The official transcript is printed and made available by the Government Printing Office several months to years after the hearing occurs; these also can be found in the CIS microfiche collection.

Tip: Unless the hearing was held as part of an investigation, any testimony by witnesses is not considered sworn testimony as it would be in a court case. Remember to take witness bias into account when looking at legislative or oversight hearing transcripts.

Occasionally, a committee will request an investigation of an issue or a recompilation of information about a problem. These studies on a particular issue may be done by a committee's staff or are requested from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress and are frequently issued as committee prints. Committee prints are distributed by the GPO and can be found in the CIS microfiche collection and in ProQuest Congressional.

Once past the hearings stage, the bill faces its markup. A markup session is when a subcommittee or committee considers the bill, possibly amending it, and then either accepts or rejects it. If accepted, either with or without amendments, the bill proceeds to the next stage of the process. If rejected, it expires.

Both the subcommittee and the full committee consider and mark up the bill. The only difference between the two sessions is that a subcommittee markup generally does not result in either an official bill print or a report. If approved by the subcommittee, the bill is "forwarded" (not to be confused with "reported") to the full committee, usually without further explanation, and the bill is not officially printed. If the bill is approved in markup by the full committee, the committee orders the bill reported, the committee explains its decisions in a written report that accompanies the bill text, and the bill and the report are filed in the Chamber.

Since the bill is not officially "reported" from a subcommittee, there is no "report" and there will not be an official (Government Printing Office-printed) version of the text of the bill as marked up/modified/amended by the subcommittee. However, if the bill was amended or changed substantially by the subcommittee, the subcommittee chairperson and/or the ranking member may introduce the modified text as a clean bill, which is given a new number in sequence with all the other newly introduced bills.

Tip: If the bill you were following suddenly seems to stop moving soon after a positive subcommittee or committee action, check for a bill on the same topic introduced by the chair within a few days of that action. Chances are that this is the bill you were following as amended by the subcommittee or committee. Check also for statements about the bill topic in the Congressional Record for the few days immediately after action was scheduled to occur that might confirm the existence of this "new" bill.

(Article I, Section 1, of the United States Constitution)

How Are Laws Made?

Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.

Once introduced and assigned a number, bills are immediately assigned to the Congressional committee and/or subcommittee charged with responsibility for that policy area. Much of the work involved in moving a bill through the legislative process is done in committee:

The committees and subcommittees may hold hearings, revise (or markup) draft bills, and recommend passage (or report the bill out of committee). The vast majority of bills "die" in committee and are not referred to the full House or Senate for consideration.

During hearings committees call on executive branch officials, "experts" in appropriate policy areas, and interest groups from the public and private sector to testify to the merits of proposed legislation. Many (though not all) of the transcripts from hearings are published and available in print, microfiche, or electronic format.

These documents can be particularly useful in tracking the stance of administration officials and the opinions of interest groups as well as understanding the positions of senators and representatives through the questions they pose.

In addition to hearings, you may also find that there are committee documents and prints. These are materials produced for use by the committee during its deliberations and can provide background and context for the issues being discussed.

Established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the United States Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.

The House of Representatives is made up of 435 elected members, divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. In addition, there are 6 non-voting members, representing the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. The presiding officer of the chamber is the Speaker of the House, elected by the Representatives. He or she is third in the line of succession to the Presidency.

Members of the House are elected every two years and must be 25 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and a resident of the state (but not necessarily the district) they represent.

The House has several powers assigned exclusively to it, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an Electoral College tie.

The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each state. Until the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, Senators were chosen by state legislatures, not by popular vote. Since then, they have been elected to six-year terms by the people of each state. Senators’ terms are staggered so that about one-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. Senators must be 30 years of age, U.S. citizens for at least nine years, and residents of the state they represent.

The Vice President of the United States serves as President of the Senate and may cast the decisive vote in the event of a tie in the Senate.

The Senate has the sole power to confirm those of the President’s appointments that require consent, and to provide advice and consent to ratify treaties. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule: the House must also approve appointments to the Vice Presidency and any treaty that involves foreign trade. The Senate also tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it by the House.

In order to pass legislation and send it to the President for his or her signature, both the House and the Senate must pass the same bill by majority vote. If the President vetoes a bill, they may override his veto by passing the bill again in each chamber with at least two-thirds of each body voting in favor.

The Legislative Process

The first step in the legislative process is the introduction of a bill to Congress. Anyone can write it, but only members of Congress can introduce legislation. Some important bills are traditionally introduced at the request of the President, such as the annual federal budget. During the legislative process, however, the initial bill can undergo drastic changes.

After being introduced, a bill is referred to the appropriate committee for review. There are 17 Senate committees, with 70 subcommittees, and 23 House committees, with 104 subcommittees. The committees are not set in stone, but change in number and form with each new Congress as required for the efficient consideration of legislation. Each committee oversees a specific policy area, and the subcommittees take on more specialized policy areas. For example, the House Committee on Ways and Means includes subcommittees on Social Security and Trade.

A bill is first considered in a subcommittee, where it may be accepted, amended, or rejected entirely. If the members of the subcommittee agree to move a bill forward, it is reported to the full committee, where the process is repeated again. Throughout this stage of the process, the committees and subcommittees call hearings to investigate the merits and flaws of the bill. They invite experts, advocates, and opponents to appear before the committee and provide testimony, and can compel people to appear using subpoena power if necessary.

If the full committee votes to approve the bill, it is reported to the floor of the House or Senate, and the majority party leadership decides when to place the bill on the calendar for consideration. If a bill is particularly pressing, it may be considered right away. Others may wait for months or never be scheduled at all.

When the bill comes up for consideration, the House has a very structured debate process. Each member who wishes to speak only has a few minutes, and the number and kind of amendments are usually limited. In the Senate, debate on most bills is unlimited — Senators may speak to issues other than the bill under consideration during their speeches, and any amendment can be introduced. Senators can use this to filibuster bills under consideration, a procedure by which a Senator delays a vote on a bill — and by extension its passage — by refusing to stand down. A supermajority of 60 Senators can break a filibuster by invoking cloture, or the cession of debate on the bill, and forcing a vote. Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority pass the bill.

A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills have the exact same wording, this rarely happens in practice. To bring the bills into alignment, a Conference Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers. The members of the committee produce a conference report, intended as the final version of the bill. Each chamber then votes again to approve the conference report. Depending on where the bill originated, the final text is then enrolled by either the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures. The bill is then sent to the President.

When receiving a bill from Congress, the President has several options. If the President agrees substantially with the bill, he or she may sign it into law, and the bill is then printed in the Statutes at Large. If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he or she may veto it and send it back to Congress. Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each chamber, at which point the bill becomes law and is printed.

There are two other options that the President may exercise. If Congress is in session and the President takes no action within 10 days, the bill becomes law. If Congress adjourns before 10 days are up and the President takes no action, then the bill dies and Congress may not vote to override. This is called a pocket veto, and if Congress still wants to pass the legislation, they must begin the entire process anew.

Powers of Congress

Congress, as one of the three coequal branches of government, is ascribed significant powers by the Constitution. All legislative power in the government is vested in Congress, meaning that it is the only part of the government that can make new laws or change existing laws. Executive Branch agencies issue regulations with the full force of law, but these are only under the authority of laws enacted by Congress. The President may veto bills Congress passes, but Congress may also override a veto by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Article I of the Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and the specific areas in which it may legislate. Congress is also empowered to enact laws deemed “necessary and proper” for the execution of the powers given to any part of the government under the Constitution.

Part of Congress’s exercise of legislative authority is the establishment of an annual budget for the government. To this end, Congress levies taxes and tariffs to provide funding for essential government services. If enough money cannot be raised to fund the government, then Congress may also authorize borrowing to make up the difference. Congress can also mandate spending on specific items: legislatively directed spending, commonly known as “earmarks,” specifies funds for a particular project, rather than for a government agency.

Both chambers of Congress have extensive investigative powers, and may compel the production of evidence or testimony toward whatever end they deem necessary. Members of Congress spend much of their time holding hearings and investigations in committee. Refusal to cooperate with a congressional subpoena can result in charges of contempt of Congress, which could result in a prison term.

The Senate maintains several powers to itself: It consents to the ratification of treaties by a two-thirds supermajority vote and confirms the appointments of the President by a majority vote. The consent of the House of Representatives is also necessary for the ratification of trade agreements and the confirmation of the Vice President.

Congress also holds the sole power to declare war.

Government Oversight

Oversight of the executive branch is an important Congressional check on the President’s power and a balance against his or her discretion in implementing laws and making regulations.

One primary way that Congress conducts oversight is through hearings. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs are both devoted to overseeing and reforming government operations, and each committee conducts oversight in its policy area.

Congress also maintains an investigative organization, the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Founded in 1921 as the General Accounting Office, its original mission was to audit the budgets and financial statements sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Today, the GAO audits and generates reports on every aspect of the government, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent with the effectiveness and efficiency that the American people deserve.

The Executive Branch also polices itself: Sixty-four Inspectors General, each responsible for a different agency, regularly audit and report on the agencies to which they are attached.