Approval of the Journal
1. The Speaker shall take the Chair on every legislative day precisely at the hour to which the House last adjourned and immediately call the House to order. Having examined and approved the Journal of the last day’s proceedings, the Speaker shall announce to the House his approval thereof. The Speaker’s approval of the Journal shall be deemed agreed to unless a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner demands a vote thereon. If such a vote is decided in the affirmative, it shall not be subject to a motion to reconsider. If such a vote is decided in the negative, then one motion that the Journal be read shall be privileged, shall be decided without debate, and shall not be subject to a motion to reconsider.
Preservation of order
2. The Speaker shall preserve order and decorum and, in case of disturbance or disorderly conduct in the galleries or in the lobby, may cause the same to be cleared.
Control of Capitol facilities
3. Except as otherwise provided by rule or law, the Speaker shall have general control of the Hall of the House, the corridors and passages in the part of the Capitol assigned to the use of the House, and the disposal of unappropriated rooms in that part of the Capitol.
Signature of documents
4. The Speaker shall sign all acts and joint resolutions passed by the two Houses and all writs, warrants, and subpoenas of, or issued by order of, the House. The Speaker may sign enrolled bills and joint resolutions whether or not the House is in session.
Questions of order
5. The Speaker shall decide all questions of order, subject to appeal by a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner. On such an appeal a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not speak more than once without permission of the House.
Form of a question
6. The Speaker shall rise to put a question but may state it sitting. The Speaker shall put a question in this form: “Those in favor (of the question), say ‘Aye.’ ”; and after the affirmative voice is expressed, “Those opposed, say ‘No.’ ”. After a vote by voice under this clause, the Speaker may use such voting procedures as may be invoked under rule XX.
Discretion to vote
7. The Speaker is not required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings, except when his vote would be decisive or when the House is engaged in voting by ballot.
The law making process is a lengthy process. First, a representative must have an idea for a new law and they become the sponsor of this bill. The representative must present to the bill to the Clerk of the House if it is in the house (H.R. Bills), or in the Senate (S Bills). The Government Printing Office, GPO, then prints the bill and distributes it to each representative. The Speaker of the House, for further study, then assigns this bill to a standing committee within the house. The standing committee studies the bill and its contents and has two options, either to release the bill with a recommendation to pass it or lay it aside so it cannot be voted on. If the bill is released, it may be voted on or sent into debate within the house and needs a majority vote for the bill to move onto the Senate. Within the Senate, the bill must go through one of the Senate’s sixteen standing committees, and as with the House of Representatives, the bill is either released or pigeonholed. If it is released, a simple majority passes the bill. The bill takes another step into a conference committee, which is made up of members of the Hou...
The procedure for approving a bill and making it a law involves many steps. The following description is a short summary from “How Our Laws are Made”, an in depth description of the legislative process that can found on the website of the Library of Congress. After a bill is drafted, a member...
Section 2. “This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several St...
As a freshman Congressman, and Speaker of the House, Henry Clay pushed the limits and increased the power of the position, making it the second only to the president. Henry Clay’s initial acts as speaker were a premonition of his politica...
How must these concerns be addressed? Many turn to compulsory voting for answers, believing in its necessity and insisting on the need for compulsion in order to increase the low turnout percentage. In fact, legislation such as Bill S-22 has received introduction into parliament in the past. Though failing to achieve approval when proposed in the 1st Session of the 38th Parliament, which ended in November of 2005 ("Bill S-22 (Historical)"), it strove to “make it compulsory for an elector to exercise the right to vote,” “make it an offence for an elector not to vote,” and “add the words ‘None of the candidates’ to a ballot in order to allow an elector to indicate that the elector does not wish to vote for any of the candidates nominated in his or her electoral district” ("Bill S-22, Summary").
The 18th Clause of Section 8, Article I allows for Congress to make any laws that are necessary or proper to assist other clauses in enforcement. Through the course of United States (US) history, the Necessary and Proper Clause has been debated on, used heavily and lightly, and has also helped the US succeed as a prosperous nation. Because there is no basic description for the 18th Clause, there have been no direct rules for interpretation by the government.
The responses to the public comments are made and the final rule is drawn up for approval. After another review in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under the White House authority, the rule is required to appear for final publication. Once the rule is published, the public or Congress can review the rule and take steps to revoke it. The public declares a legal challenge and the court determines the legality of the rule. Congress votes to disapprove the rule by resolution.
"Congress shall have the power...to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states."
Wolfe, Christopher. The Rise of Modern Judicial Review: From Constitutional Interpretation to Judge-Made Law. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1986.
6. See Winnington-Ingram (1983), 125 on the controversial, but not very consequential, question of whether Athena casts a vote or merely lays down the principle of acquittal if the votes are equally divided.
Under Article 1 Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution “ All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives” .The Legislative Branch is made up of two houses of Congress that try to represent the States’ views as equally as possible. Congress is broken up into two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Under Article 1 Section 3 “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state” that are elected by the people of which the state they represent. The House of Representatives are under Article 1 Section 2 “The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people
It also shows the special function of the House of Representatives. Only the House of Representatives is allowed to propose bills that raise revenue. Article 7 also instills the idea of getting presidential approval on all bills that have passed both the senate and the House of Representatives. If the president vetoes a bill, the bill will go back with suggestions on how to make it better. After the edits from the president, there is another vote. A 2/3rd vote is needed to pass the bill into law (US Const. art I. sec VII).
The first issue that will be discussed will be in regards to the power the president holds, inherently and expressly. This will then be followed by how our presidents have used and challenged their powers throughout history. Finally, we will turn our attention to Congress. We will look at how congress has taken power into its ...
Depending on the chamber of Congress where the bill exists, the procedures for floor action differ. I...
West Virginia Legislature. (2011). How a bill becomes a law. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from