Any member of Congress can introduce a bill, and each two-year Congress sees thousands of them. Only a small share, typically a few percent, become law. Knowing where bills die is the best defense against headlines that treat an introduction as if it were a done deal.
The path
- Introduction. A representative or senator files the bill. It gets a number (H.R. or S.) and is referred to one or more committees. Bills that raise revenue must start in the House.
- Committee. The committee chair decides whether to hold hearings and a markup, where members debate and amend the text. Most bills never get this far. No action in committee is the most common way a bill dies.
- Floor. In the House, the Rules Committee usually sets the terms of debate, and a simple majority passes the bill. In the Senate, most legislation needs 60 votes to end debate (cloture) before a final majority vote. That threshold, often called the filibuster, is why many House-passed bills stall in the Senate.
- The other chamber. Both chambers must pass identical text. Differences are worked out by sending amendments back and forth or through a conference committee.
- The president. The president can sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing. An unsigned bill becomes law after ten days (Sundays excluded) while Congress is in session; if Congress has adjourned, it dies in a “pocket veto.”
- Override. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers. This is rare.
Shortcuts and exceptions
- Budget reconciliation lets certain tax and spending bills pass the Senate with a simple majority, which is why major fiscal laws often take this route.
- Must-pass bills, like government funding and the annual defense authorization, carry unrelated provisions that could not pass alone.
- Suspension of the rules lets the House pass uncontroversial bills quickly with a two-thirds vote.
States work the same way, mostly
State legislatures follow similar steps, though many have shorter sessions and some let a governor veto individual spending lines. State lawmakers introduce tens of thousands of bills a year, and many are introduced to make a point rather than with any expectation of passage.
How to track a bill
Federal bills are on congress.gov, which shows every action, cosponsor and text version. GovTrack adds a prognosis based on past bills. For state bills, use your legislature’s website. Before sharing a story about a bill, check its status line: “referred to committee” means almost nothing has happened yet.