How A Bill Becomes A Law All laws in the United States begin as bills. Before a bill can become a law, it must be approved by the U.S House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the
President. The House of Representatives and the Senate follow different rules in considering and passing bills. They both use committees and subcommittees, conference committees to form final versions of bills, and the role of party caucuses and congressional leadership are important in the lawmaking process.
First someone tells their idea of the law to a legislator. This person can be a member in the House of Representatives or a citizen. If a citizen were to come up with an idea he or she tells their Representative, if they agree with the idea then they’ll write a bill. The bill waits until it’s introduced to either the House or the Senate. The bill is assigned letters and numbers. The bill is read to all members in the House then The
Speaker of The House sends it to a special committee. In this committee experts on the topic gather and revise the bill before voting. If the members didn’t like the bill as much and needed further information before deciding it’s send to a subcommittee. In the subcommittee, again experts closely research the bill before sending it back to the committee for approval. After the committee’s approval the bill is reported to the House floor to be debated by the House. Representatives debate and discuss their opinion of the bill. They might make some changes as necessary then the bill is voted on. If the majority of the Representatives say yes then the bill is passed to the Senate.
The Senate goes through most of the same process as the House of
Representatives, discussed in a committee then voted on. And same as the House of
Rep. the Senate goes by majority vote. Once it’s approved by both houses it becomes enrolled, and the engrossed version of the bill is then sent to the White House for the
President to look over. The President can do one of three things with the bill. He can sign it and the bill becomes a law.