Hey guys, it's Kaeleigh! In this lesson, we're going to learn
the process of how laws are made in the United States government.
In this lesson, we're going to learn how federal laws are made.
The word "federal" means relating to a nation formed by a union of parts. In the U.S., the 50
states are like the parts of the union. We have a federal government, and people in every state must
follow the laws made by the federal government. We have learned that we also have local governments,
like states and communities. States can make their own laws too, but those laws only have
to be followed in that specific state. The U.S. government has a lot of laws
that are made to protect citizens and keep order in the country.
These laws must be agreed on by the legislative branch and the executive branch. Each law
must go through the same process to become official. Let's learn about that process.
Each law starts out as an idea. These ideas often come from the president or
members of Congress or special interest groups like businesses and organizations.
But ideas can also come from citizens like you.
If you feel strongly about something and believe it should be a law, the first step is to contact
your state's elected officials in Congress, like a Senator or a Representative in the House.
If it's a good idea, it will be written down and explained.
The first draft of the idea is called a bill, and each bill needs a sponsor. A sponsor must
be a member of Congress, either a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
The sponsor should be very passionate about the bill and really want it to turn into a law.
It is the sponsor's job to introduce the bill to either the House or the Senate.
Introducing a bill is a bit like turning in homework. In the House of Representatives,
the sponsor just needs to drop the written draft into a wooden box called the hopper. From there,
the bill will be given an official number and be sent to a committee.
A committee is a small group of Congress members who are experts on certain topics. For example,
if the bill is about providing public transportation, like buses, it will go to the
Committee of Transportation. The committee will review and research the bill, and if the committee
needs more help, they can call on a subcommittee to help review the bill. A subcommittee looks
very closely at the bill and can gather expert opinions from people not in Congress.
Subcommittees and committees can make changes to the bill. Once the changes have been made,
the committee will vote to accept or reject the bill. If they vote to accept the bill, it is sent
to the House of Representatives or the Senate. If the bill was sponsored by a member of the
House, it will go to the House of Representatives for debate. The House will vote to accept or
reject the bill. If it is accepted, the bill is sent to the Senate floor to be debated.
The Senate will then go through the same process of debating the bill.
Then, they will vote to accept or reject the bill. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives
have to agree on the same version of the bill and have a majority vote for the bill to be passed.
A majority vote means that one more than half have all voted yes or all voted no.
If they vote to accept the bill, the bill is then sent to the President.
Once the President receives the bill, the President has four options. The President
can approve and sign the bill, and then the bill becomes a law. Or, the President can reject and
veto the bill. When the President vetoes a bill, it is sent back to Congress with
the reasons why the President has vetoed. Congress can override the veto. This means
that Congress has the power to go against the president's wishes and pass the bill into law.
To override a veto, both the House and the Senate must vote "yes" with a two-thirds majority.
The president has 10 days to decide to sign and pass the bill or to veto the bill. If the
president takes no action for 10 days and Congress is in session, the bill will automatically become
a law. If the president takes no action and Congress is not in session, it is considered
a veto. This is called a pocket veto, and a pocket veto cannot be overridden by Congress.
While this process is true for every bill that becomes a law, some bills never make it out of
step four: Bill goes to committee. This is simply because the committee does not take
action to review or revise the bill. When this happens to the bill, it has "died in committee."
About 90 percent of bills die in committee. Sometimes it's because they're not practical ideas
or they've never even been intended to become a law, and the writers of the bill just want
to bring attention to the idea. But some bills are just neglected and forgotten about.
Only around five percent of bills introduced in Congress
become laws. Sometimes it takes a very long time, and similar bills must continue to be
introduced over long periods of time for change to happen in federal laws.
Once a bill is in the Senate for a vote, a senator might extend the debate by giving a really long
speech. This is called a filibuster and is used to delay or even block a vote on a bill.
If a filibuster is happening, the Senate can vote to stop it by having a 60 to 40 vote.
Now you know the process of how an idea becomes a bill
and a bill becomes a law. Practice what you've learned by doing the online games and quizzes,
have fun, and remember to always be clever!