Explainer · Congress

How a Bill Becomes Law: The Real Path Through Congress

Last reviewed: September 26, 2026

Short answer: A bill becomes law when the House and the Senate pass the identical text and the President signs it, or when Congress overrides a veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. A bill the President neither signs nor returns within 10 days (Sundays excepted) becomes law without a signature, unless Congress has adjourned and prevented its return. That is a pocket veto.

The rule in the Constitution

Article I, Section 7 sets the basic rule: “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.” Congress.gov’s overview puts it plainly: “the enactment of law always requires both chambers to separately agree to the same bill in the same form before presenting it to the President.”

One limit on where bills start: “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” By tradition, the House also originates general appropriations bills, according to the House guide How Our Laws Are Made. Spending fights have their own explainer: debt ceiling vs. government shutdown.

Step 1: Introduction

In the House, any Member, Delegate or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico may introduce a bill while the House is in session by placing it in the “hopper,” a wooden box beside the rostrum. No permission is needed. The Member who introduces it is the primary sponsor, and other Members may sign on as cosponsors.

Step 2: Committee

Bills are referred to committee, where most of the detailed work happens. Congress.gov notes that “much of the policy expertise resides in the standing committees.” If a bill is important enough, a committee may hold public hearings. After hearings, a subcommittee usually holds a “markup” session to amend the text and vote on whether to report it to the full committee.

A committee that sits on a bill can be bypassed in the House. Once a bill has been in committee for 30 legislative days, a Member may file a motion to discharge it. When 218 Members, a majority of the House, have signed, the motion goes to the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.

Step 3: The House floor

Majority-party leaders in the House, Congress.gov explains, have the power to “effectively set the policy agenda and decide which proposals will receive floor consideration.” Measures that involve taxes or appropriations must first be considered in the Committee of the Whole, and the Committee on Rules reports a rule that allows that consideration and fixes the length of debate. Questions are decided by a majority of those voting.

Step 4: The Senate floor and the filibuster

The Senate is built differently. Its rules, in Congress.gov’s words, “favor deliberation over quick action,” giving individual senators significant leverage. A simple majority passes a bill, but a senator can prolong debate. The Senate adopted its first rule for ending debate, called cloture, in 1917, requiring a two-thirds vote. In 1975 it lowered the threshold to three-fifths of senators duly chosen and sworn, or 60 of 100.

Budget reconciliation is the main exception. Congress.gov’s summary of H.R. 1 in the 119th Congress says reconciliation bills are considered “using expedited legislative procedures that prevent a filibuster and restrict amendments in the Senate.”

Step 5: Settling differences

Before a bill can go to the President, both chambers must agree to the identical text. That happens in one of three ways: the second chamber passes the bill without amendment; the first chamber agrees to the second chamber’s amendments; or both agree to a conference committee report. The final version is then “enrolled” and signed by the Speaker and the President of the Senate (or an authorized Member) for presentation to the President.

Step 6: The President decides

• Sign it: the bill becomes law.
• Veto it: the President returns it with objections to the chamber where it started. It becomes law only if two-thirds of each chamber votes to pass it again. The Constitution requires those votes to be recorded by yeas and nays.
• Do nothing: after 10 days (Sundays excepted) the bill becomes law without a signature, unless Congress’s adjournment prevents its return, in which case it dies (a pocket veto).

Overrides are rare. Congress.gov says it is “quite unusual for law to be enacted over a presidential veto,” so Congress typically must accommodate the President’s position. When Congress does not act, Presidents sometimes turn to executive orders, which have their own limits. See executive orders vs. laws.