Questions tagged [legislative-process]
Questions about the processes to create laws in different jurisdictions.
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What would stop a representative democracy becoming a dictatorship?
In a representative democracy, those elected pass laws for the country. If a political party had a majority in the relevant legislature(s), could that party use its majority to write a law that ...
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How do politicians scrutinize bills that are thousands of pages long?
The recently passed stimulus bill is said to be 5,593 pages long, and allocates $900 billion in funds. It's no surprise that there was no chance to read or amend the bill.
The logistics of revising a ...
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Why don't British kings and queens veto laws? [duplicate]
I've learned from Wikipedia that the British king or queen has the right to veto laws, but they don't use the right. Why is that? Is it because of tradition, respect for democracy, some regulations or ...
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What is the point of prohibiting currently impossible things?
I treat reproductive human cloning as one of such things. Current technology is far from a success, and reproductive human cloning does not seem to be a near future possibility. So, any law against ...
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How does lobbying work in the US?
I don't understand why would federal officials or congresspersons in the US succumb to lobbyists' requests unless they have skin in the game. How do lobbyists, I mean legal ones, persuade legislators ...
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What is the point in delaying the signing of legislation that the President supports?
Once a president has already decided that they are going to sign legislation, why not do it immediately?
For example, on Wednesday, March 10, the House of Representatives voted to pass the American ...
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Why are congressional votes not secret?
In general, a person in the United States has the right to vote. As far as I can tell, this vote is private—no one else knows who you voted for. Why are the votes in congress public? Wouldn't it help ...
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Why have US Presidents not been given the power of line item vetoes?
I have often wondered why there are so many bills that are massive and incredibly complex passed through the Legislative branch. Why are bills stacked together and mashed up with a variety sections ...
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Did Republicans accidentally kill corporate deductions, and will it force the Senate to revise and re-vote?
An article in New York magazine indicates that
While Republicans were manically outlining their plans to take from the poor to give to the Trumps, they also, accidentally, nullified all of their ...
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Why can't laws be shorter?
The Constitution of United States and the amendments contains 7,591 words. Assuming it was typed out in a normal font and size that's about 27 pages (275 words a page). The Constitution creates a ...
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What prevents a single senator from passing a bill they want with a 1-0 vote?
As a follow-up to this question, the answer there indicates that by the rules set by the Senate, a quorum is assumed to be present unless someone requests a roll-call vote. Because of this rule, the ...
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Name for a popular measure added to a bill for the purpose of later attacking those who vote against that bill?
I personally always call this a kittens-are-cute bill. The basic idea is that Party A wants to pass a certain bill, but they know it's wholly unacceptable to Party B. So what they do is add some (...
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What is the minimum amount of votes needed in both Chambers of Congress to send an Admission to the Union resolution to the President?
Background
Admission to the Union in the United States seems to be a vaguely laid out procedure as described in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution:
New States may be admitted by ...
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What would happen if Senators boycotted the Impeachment Vote
I know it would take a 2/3rds majority vote in the Senate to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. But what if a substantial number of Senators boycotted the trial, and declined to ...
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Does a tie in the Senate require the vice president to always be present in the Senate?
Would the vice president be required to always be in the senate chamber in order to break ties? If not, how often must she be there -- or does she need to be there at all to vote her tie-breaker vote?
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Why do Senators and Representatives miss so many votes?
We send these people to Washington to do one main job: to vote on bills to make them laws. For example, in the 115th Congress, 33 Representatives and three Senators missed 10% or more of votes, across ...
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Why is an unrelated House-passed measure used to start the immigration debate in the Senate?
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently moved to vote to open the immigration debate in the Senate. As quoted from this article by CNN, he chose an unrelated bill to be used for the debate.
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Does it matter what is said on the US Congress floor?
It seems like bills are only put up for vote when the votes for and against are known beforehand. So, does it matter what they debate about during the actual sessions of Congress? Is it purely for ...
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How would a vote in US congress taken under duress be later invalidated?
My question is inspired by the hypothetical actions of some of the recent insurectionists, one of whom was pictured below:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/zip-cuffs-capitol-riots/
At least 2 men ...
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What rule has John Bercow allegedly broken and in what way shall he have done that?
Today, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons in the UK allowed an amendment by MP Dominic Grieve to a business motion. This decision has been discussed as being very controversial where "a ...
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Does Congress formally offer training to inexperienced legislators?
Everyone in Congress came from somewhere. It's possible that they were once in local or state government or active in major social causes, but that's not a safe assumption. The problems and ...
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Why did the Senate use an existing bill that passed the House in July 2019 to create the CARES Act?
I was looking at H.R.748 - CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act on the Congress website. I was surprised to find that the bill originally passed the House on July 17, 2019. I ...
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Has a US Supreme Court Justice ever drafted a bill and submitted it to Congress?
Argentina's Constitution was heavily inspired by the US Constitution. Recently, the biggest piece of Argentine legislation passed in decades was authored by the members of Argentina's Supreme Court, ...
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Has any recent Republican legislation been blocked solely by the filibuster?
The primary argument against reforming or abolishing the Filibuster seems to be that if (realistically, when) Republicans take control of the government again, there would be nothing keeping them from ...
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Can the US Senate bypass the Majority Leader's agenda?
If the US Senate Majority Leader doesn't want to bring a bill to the floor for a vote, are there other mechanisms that would allow the bill to be voted on anyway? If so, what are they?
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When is a 60% majority required in US Congress?
I wonder when a 60% majority is required in the US Senate. As I write this I see in the news that Obamacare can be "repealed and replaced" with only a 50% majority because it is in a "reconciliation ...
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Why do some German MPs hold cards up whenever there is a vote in the Bundestag?
You can see here for example https://youtu.be/mKn4Pi3qXjU?t=3594 that members of the Bundestag holding cards up during a vote on a bill. Is this a special kind of voting? How does it work?
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How often are Senators called on for violating Senate rules?
As widely reported now, Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced by a vote in the Senate for purportedly violating Rule XIX.
In the last 10 years how many times (or approximately how many), have ...
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Why doesn't the Texas legislature nuke the quorum?
The GOP-controlled Texas Legislature finds itself unable to pass a voting bill due to State Democrats refusing to participate in the meetings, leading the state to lack a quorum. The GOP has made ...
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Why were there no objections to the public release of the former US president's tax records at the House Ways and Means Committee meeting?
In the PBS NewsHour's December 20, 2022 video WATCH LIVE: House committee votes on release of Trump's tax returns it appears, if I understand correctly, that there were no objections heard to making ...
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How can the Indian government ban old notes without passing any bill/law?
Before making any major decisions/policy/law for the public the Indian government should pass a bill. It's usually done through the voting by the Member of Parliaments in the Parliament. After getting ...
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Isn't 50 +1 not enough to increase the debt ceiling and avoid a government shutdown
Currently, the Senate is split 50/50 but the Democrats have the presidency or they have a slim majority in the Senate.
My question is do the Democrats need a Republican vote to increase the debt ...
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When did the trend of giving U.S. Congressional bills catchy acronyms first start to occur?
According to The Atlantic, there have been 240 bills proposed in 2013 that were represented by an acronym, such as the ROBO COP bill to help curb automated robot calls and the BEER (Brewers Excise and ...
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Why does the Senate Majority leader often vote against their own bills? [duplicate]
In the US Senate on Sunday, March 22nd, passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was blocked in a 47-47 vote. The vote was generally along party lines, with one ...
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Who legislates military law?
Where does United States military law come from?
I'm vaguely aware that the military is governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). This power stems from the constitutional authority of ...
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What are Henry VIII powers?
As far as I understand it so far, Henry VIII powers in some way allow government ministers to overrule previously enacted laws with a reduced level of scrutiny. They have come into the public eye ...
CDJB♦
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Has a law or amendment been passed without a vote in Parliament because there were no tellers before?
If the breaking news is correct,
MPs started voting on Stephen Kinnock’s amendment 6. But then, a few minutes into voting, Lindsay Hoyle, announced that the division had been called off because the ...
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What will be the process and timescale for this proposal on retention of EU citizenship by UK nationals to be considered?
I just spotted this interesting article about an amendment proposed by the Luxembourger MEP Charles Goerens to the EU Committee on Constitutional Affairs to allow individual Brits an opt-in to keep EU ...
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How would the United States of America grant Puerto Rico statehood?
Given the existence of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico, what would need to happen for Puerto Rico to be the 51st State of the U.S.A.?
After their last hurricane, how would the help from the US ...
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Can an MP who didn't vote for the 2nd reading of a bill propose amendments to it?
It's been said in a (now-deleted) comment here that
You are not allowed to propose an amendment to a bill unless you voted for the second reading. This means there is a strong incentive to vote for ...
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Do any legislative branches besides the US have a tradition of voluntarily requiring more than 50% of the votes to pass a law?
In the US Senate there's a peculiar tradition where 60 out of 100 votes are required to overcome filibuster, even though constituonally speaking 51 votes (or 50 votes plus the vice president's tie ...
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How did slavery become a legal institution in the United States?
The second paragraph in the Unites States Declaration of Independence states:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with ...
user7240
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What is a Star Print?
I asked a question about how a bill can die after being reported by committee as favorable, and receiving no subsequent vote in the receiving chamber. After some further digging, I found that it died ...
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What parts of Biden’s proposals could be eligible for budget reconciliation?
President Biden addressed a joint session of congress on April 29 and proposed vast new federal social programs such as free community college and subsidized childcare for low-income and middle-class ...
user5526
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Does the United States have a built-in mechanism to resolve loss of supply? And if not, why not?
In countries that have inherited the Westminster system, loss of supply typically results in government being required to either reform as the majority that blocked supply; or dissolve parliament so ...
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What happens in the event of a tie in the Welsh Senedd?
The results of the recent UK elections have confirmed the continuation of a Labour government in the Senedd, winning 30 out of 60 seats.
This is one seat short of a majority, so what happens in the ...
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Why is US legislation formulated independently by both chambers?
In the US - at the federal and AFAIK the state level - pieces of legislation are put forward in two versions, independently, before the two legislative bodies; each version is discussed, debated and ...
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How soon does the PM have to present a passed bill for royal assent?
How long can the UK government delay presenting an otherwise passed bill to the Queen for royal assent (could they perhaps delay it indefinitely to prevent it becoming law?).
Parliamentary pages I've ...
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Does this European Citizen's Initiative have any chance of success?
I have recently been made aware of this petition to make EU citizenship permanent (prompted by Brexit):
Noting the ECJ’s view of Union citizenship as a ‘fundamental status’
of nationals of Member ...
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Why does H.R.335 not mention the nominee's name?
To my understanding, H.R.335 which became Public Law No: 117-1. was a bill before the United States House of Representatives which would provide an exception to 10 U.S. Code § 113 (a) in order to ...
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