What are the repercussions for introducing an amendment after a bill is passed through committee?

Question

Let's take something like the Farm Bill. Maybe there is an aspect of it that a committee member strongly disagrees with (e.g. decreased support for conservation), but they still need the bill to make it through committee because time is getting short.

Could they introduce an amendment once the bill is on the Senate floor? Say, an amendment that increases support for conservation? If so, what would be the consequences of that? Would other members of the committee be angry at them for slowing down the process of the bill?

Answer 1

Could they introduce an amendment once the bill is on the Senate floor? Say, an amendment that increases support for conservation?

Yes and yes.

If so, what would be the consequences of that? Would other members of the committee be angry at them for slowing down the process of the bill?

There isn't a generic answer to this question. It depends upon the individual Senators involved and their personalities. Some would be upset, while others wouldn't care.

It certainly wouldn't be uncommon for someone who lost a battle on the language of a bill in committee to appeal to the entire body to revisit that issue. Amendments are tightly controlled by the rules committee in the House, but are much more liberally available in most cases in the Senate.

Also, Senators recognize that there are a variety of legitimate reasons that someone might want a floor vote on an issue, even if it is doomed to fail since there aren't enough votes to pass it.