The Legislative Branch
In the U.S., the legislative branch is comprised of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. This is where bills get started on their way to become a law. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have equal power to introduce legislation on any subject except for revenue bills, which can only originate in the House of Representatives. While bills can be introduced by a member of either chamber, they must be approved by both chambers. Often, one chamber introduces and passes a bill, and then the other chamber negotiates changes that both chambers can agree on.
In addition to their legislative work, Congress confirms or rejects the president’s nominations for the Supreme Court and for the heads of federal government agencies.
Congress has about 200 committees and subcommittees, each dedicated to a specialized area of oversight. When lobbying, it may be useful to be aware of which members of Congress serve on a committee related to your area of concern.
What are the key differences between the Senate and the House?
The United States legislative branch has two types of legislators, Senators and Representatives. This is called a bicameral parliamentary system. While the two legislatures have many similarities, they also have several key differences. For instance, while the number of legislators from the House of Representatives is proportional to the population of each state, there are always two Senators from each state, no matter the size.
The House has the ability to request impeachment of the president, vice president, and other civil officials, such as federal judges, for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Once the impeachment goes to trial, it is the Senate that decides whether to convict and remove from office or acquit and free from charges. To convict a public official and remove them from office, the Senate would need at least a two-thirds majority vote. Currently, three presidents—Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump—have been impeached by the House. All three were acquitted by the Senate (Trump was impeached and acquitted twice).
Learn more about the two chambers of congress
The Legislative Process
While many bills are introduced simply as markers of the legislator’s position and aren’t usually expected to generate further action after being introduced into the legislative calendar, more needs to be done for a bill to get a hearing in a committee and then be referred for a floor vote.
It’s challenging to write any piece of legislation, as it is likely to affect existing interests and industries or change previous laws, rules, or regulations. Legislators, especially state legislators, will often seek the counsel of bill drafters who work for the legislative body, other legislators, nonprofit groups with relevant legal or public interest expertise, legal or professional associations, industry leaders, or any relevant organized community groups among their voting constituents. Often, these third parties may write significant portions of a piece of legislation or suggest clauses relevant to their interests, especially with large bills like state or federal budgets.
This informal consultation process also helps legislators discover in advance if a change to the law might cause unforeseen problems, could have significant opposition, and determine if it will have enough public support to pass.
For junior members of Congress (who have a small staff that will be mainly occupied with answering constituent mail), or for state legislators who often have no staff at all, the outside support and expertise of third party groups are indispensable. Nonprofits, business leaders, outspoken grassroots activists, and other influential members of the community are all likely to weigh in publicly on any proposed laws that affect them.
If a legislator proposing a bill has their agreement and support before a bill is introduced, third party groups may help with tasks like getting members of the public to ask other legislators to support, or co-sponsor, a bill. They may write news editorials or appear on news programs supporting the legislation. They may even organize rallies to support a bill they really like. Critically, they may help provide expert witnesses for committee hearings, where a specialized committee of interested legislators decides whether a bill is referred for a floor vote, so it can have a chance at passage.
If such members of civic society have not been consulted, or oppose the legislation on other grounds, they are likely to speak up in opposition through the same avenues. Opponents of a bill may have their own witnesses in committee, write their own editorials, organize their own rallies, or lobby other legislators to oppose passing the bill into law.
Even a seemingly simple piece of legislation can affect medical practice, public health, millions of dollars worth of business revenue, civil liability in lawsuits, criminal liability for prosecution, or other matters of public interest that may affect millions of people. Given the high stakes of writing state and federal laws, effective U.S. legislators tend to go into the public arena with a coalition behind them, ready and willing to help with education and outreach.
For a piece of legislation to move through the legislative process, both the House and Senate must pass the same version of a bill by a majority vote. After that, the bill goes to the president, who can decide to either sign it into law or veto.
If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can still override it with a two-thirds majority vote from both the House and the Senate. Both the veto power and the ability of Congress to override a veto are examples of the benefits of the system of checks and balances that was implemented in the Constitution.
After a bill becomes a law, it is assigned a number and published in the United States Statutes at Large. Laws of a general and permanent nature are then incorporated into the United States Code. Only about two to three percent of introduced bills become law. The vast majority die in committee.
Read more on the legislative process:
The Legislative Process | house.gov