How do laws really get made?
After the opening-day ceremonies, the new Congress is ready to get to work. A great deal of that work takes place in committee – so much so that some observers describe Congress as a collection of committees that come together now and then to approve each other’s decisions.
Committee chairs are chosen by the majority party, mainly through a vote of its party caucus. Historically, the choice of chairs was governed by seniority rule. This rule automatically gave the position of committee chair to the majority party member with the most consecutive years of service on the committee. Likewise, the minority party used the seniority rule to select its top committee post-that of ranking member.
Beginning in the 1970s, however, party leaders began considering other factors, such as party loyalty, political skill, and trustworthiness, in choosing committee chairs. Even so, seniority remains the best predictor of leadership in Senate committees. It is the key factor in each party’s choice of chairs and ranking members. In the House, however, fewer committee leaders are chosen based only on seniority, although it remains an important factor.
Bills come to a committee from a variety of sources, including individual citizens and interest groups. A large number originate in departments and agencies of the executive branch. These bills are put forward to advance the policies advocated by the president. No matter where a bill originates, a member of Congress must introduce it. That member becomes the bill’s primary sponsor.
According to the rules of the House, the speaker distributes proposed legislation to the various committees for study. In the Senate, the presiding officer handles this task. In actual practice, however, the House and Senate parliamentarians refer most bills to a committee. Each parliamentarian is an expert on the rules and procedures of either the House or the Senate.
Once a bill is sent to a committee, the chair decides what to do with it. One option is simply to ignore it. Former representative Lee H. Hamilton found this out during his first year in the House. Hamilton and a few other members decided to introduce a constitutional amendment that would increase House terms from two years to four. Hamilton later recalled how they approached the “awesome and fearsome” chair of the Judiciary Committee, Emanuel Celler, to ask him how he stood on the proposal. “I don’t stand on it,” he replied. ’’I’m sitting on it. It rests four-square under my fanny and will never see the light of day.”
Another option is to hold hearings on the bill, either in the full committee or in one of its subcommittees. Subcommittees are smaller groups of lawmakers that focus on particular areas within the full committee’s jurisdiction. The House has more than 100 subcommittees. The Senate has approximately 70. The committee chair can refer a bill either to a subcommittee that will give it a favorable reception or to one that will not. This is another source of a chair’s considerable power.
A committee’s work on a proposed bill can be divided into three phases. At each point, the legislation can move forward or die.
Phase 1: Hearings. The first phase usually begins with a legislative hearing in front of the subcommittee to which the bill was assigned by the committee chair. The purpose of the hearing is to listen to testimonies and gather information from individuals who are interested in or have expertise to share about the proposed legislation. The people called on to testify may include the bill’s sponsors, public officials, lobbyists, and private citizens. To shine the media spotlight on a bill, a chair may even invite a movie star to testify. “Quite candidly,” Senator Arlen Specter admitted, “when Hollywood speaks, the world listens. Sometimes when Washington speaks, the world snoozes.”
Hearings can be fairly short, or they can drag on for days. Subcommittee chairs, for the most part, control the selection and scheduling of witnesses. If they favor a bill, they can move the hearing along. If they oppose a bill, they kill it by scheduling hearings that never seem to end.
Phase 2: Markup. If a bill makes it through the hearings, subcommittee members gather to determine the bill’s final language. This meeting is known as a markup session, because this is when members mark up, or amend, the bill. At least one-third of the subcommittee’s members must be present at a markup session to make up a quorum.
The chair starts a markup session by noting the bill’s title and opening it up to amendment. Amendment procedures vary by committee, but typically any change in a bill must be approved by a majority of those present. The committee members usually debate the merits of each proposed amendment before voting on it.
During markup, members are often torn between their roles as delegates and as trustees. As delegates, they want to address the particular interests of their home districts or states. As trustees, they want to shape a bill that will be good for the country while also attracting support from other lawmakers, the president, and the general public.
Phase 3: Report. Once subcommittee members deal with the last amendment to the bill, they vote on a motion to return the bill to the full committee. Those who do not want the bill to move on vote no at this point. However, if a bill has made it through markup, it will most likely be sent back to the full standing committee.
The standing committee can then accept the bill as is or amend it further – even holding more hearings and its own markup session. It then votes on whether to report the bill to the full House or Senate for a floor vote. If the vote is favorable, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why the committee recommends the enactment of this bill. It is then up to the full House or Senate to agree or disagree with the committee’s recommendation.
In the Senate, a bill reported out of committee is ready to be voted on by the full chamber. But in the House, the bill’s sponsors need to clear one more hurdle: the House Rules Committee. This powerful committee acts as a “traffic cop” for House legislation. It can move a bill ahead of others on the House schedule so that it can be considered quickly. Or it can delay a bill’s arrival on the House floor.
The Rules Committee also sets the rules for debate on a bill. A bill’s supporters usually ask for a closed rule. A closed rule severely limits floor debate and amendments to a bill. A closed rule makes it easier to get a bill through the House quickly, with no damaging debate or changes. Opponents, in contrast, prefer an open rule. An open rule allows floor debate and the introduction of amendments that could cripple or kill the bill.
The Rules Committee does not act independently of the speaker of the House. The speaker often sets the guidelines for when and how a bill will be debated on the floor. Should the speaker desire changes in a bill, for example, he or she might arrange for an open rule. Former House member Porter J. Goss observed, “How much is the Rules Committee the handmaiden of the Speaker? The answer is, totally.”