Every two years, members of Congress introduce thousands of bills. Only a small share ever become law. That is not a malfunction. The Constitution makes passing a law deliberately hard, and the modern rules of the House and Senate add even more checkpoints.

If you have ever wondered why a bill that “passed” is still not law, or why a measure with majority support goes nowhere, the answer is almost always in one of the steps below.

Step 1: Introduction

Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill, although the ideas often come from the White House, advocacy groups, businesses or constituents. In the House, a member drops the bill into a box called the hopper. In the Senate, a senator introduces it on the floor or submits it to the clerk. Each bill gets a number, such as H.R. 139 in the House or S. 29 in the Senate.

One constitutional rule shapes this step: bills that raise revenue must start in the House. That is why major tax bills usually begin there.

Step 2: Committee

Almost every bill is sent to a committee with authority over its subject, such as agriculture, armed services or energy. This is where most bills die. Committee chairs decide which bills get hearings, and a bill that never gets a hearing simply sits until Congress ends.

Bills that do move go through a markup, where committee members debate amendments and vote on whether to send the bill to the full chamber. Committees may also hold hearings with experts, officials and people affected by the proposal.

Step 3: The floor

In the House, the majority party controls the schedule tightly. The Rules Committee usually sets the terms of debate for major bills: how long members can talk and which amendments, if any, they may offer. A bill then passes with a simple majority of those voting.

The Senate works very differently. Senators can generally keep debating a bill for as long as they like, which is what a filibuster is. Ending debate requires a cloture vote, which needs three-fifths of senators, normally 60 of 100. In practice, that means most controversial legislation needs support from both parties in the Senate, even when one party holds a majority.

There are exceptions. Budget reconciliation bills, which deal with spending, revenue and the debt limit, can pass the Senate with a simple majority, but their contents are restricted to budget-related matters.

Step 4: Both chambers must agree on the same text

A bill has to pass the House and the Senate in identical form. If the two versions differ, the chambers either trade amendments back and forth until they match or appoint a conference committee to negotiate a single version, which then goes back to both chambers for a final vote.

This is a step people often forget. When you read that a bill “passed Congress,” check whether both chambers really approved the same text, or whether only one did. The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, passed the House in July 2026 but has not received a Senate vote, so it is not law.

Step 5: The president

Once both chambers pass the bill, it goes to the president, who has 10 days, not counting Sundays, to act:

  • Sign it, and it becomes law.
  • Veto it and send it back to Congress with objections.
  • Do nothing. If Congress is in session, the bill becomes law without a signature after 10 days. If Congress has adjourned and cannot receive a veto, the bill dies. That is called a pocket veto.

Step 6: Overriding a veto

Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. That is a very high bar, and overrides are rare. More often, the threat of a veto shapes the bill before it ever reaches the president.

The clock runs out every two years

Each Congress lasts two years. When it ends, every bill that has not become law dies and must be reintroduced from scratch in the next Congress, starting again at step one. That is why so much legislation piles up at the end of a session, and why a bill that “almost passed” can simply disappear.

How to follow a bill yourself

Every federal bill has a page on Congress.gov, the official website for federal legislative information. Search for the bill number and you can see its text, its sponsors and co-sponsors, which committee has it, every action taken on it and how members voted. The “Actions” tab is the most useful: it shows exactly where a bill is stuck.

What we think

The process is slow by design. The founders wanted laws to survive two chambers and a president, and the Senate’s 60-vote rule has turned bipartisan support into a practical requirement for most major legislation. That frustrates whichever party is in power, and both parties have defended the rule when they were in the minority.

The most useful habit for following politics is simple: when a popular bill stalls, look at where it is stuck. A bill waiting in committee, waiting for a Senate vote or waiting for a conference deal tells you exactly who has the power to move it.