Essay On How A Bill Becomes A Law

Lawmaking is one of the basic duties of the legislative branch of government, however, it is lengthy process to make a bill a law. A bill is the result of a need for a law in order to improve life in the United States. A basic explanation of a bill’s journey to become a law is as follows. First a congressman must introduce the bill to a section of legislation usually the House of Representatives. The bill will then be discussed and approved in committees and subcommittees before it gets the chance to be voted on by the entirety of the House. If the House accepts the bill it is then sent to the Senate to go through the same process. If the bill gets a majority vote in the House and Senate the bill is sent to the White House. The President has the choice to sign it into law or veto it. If the bill is vetoed it will go back to the Senate and House for further deliberation. It is still possible for the bill to become a law if Congress overrides the veto with a 2/3 vote in each chamber, but this is uncommon (Geer 418).
Interest groups lobby for their cause, “or try to persuade elected officials to adopt or reject a specific policy change” (Geer 248). When interest groups lobby for legislature they will usually meet with members of congress in order to influence the congressman’s opinion of a specific policy to hopefully sway his or her vote in a certain way (Geer 248). There are many other aspects of law making that goes further than the basic steps to sign a bill into a law, for example, wealthy supporters and sponsorship of specific bills, communication with constituents, and the breakdown of democrats and republicans in the house and