This is the story of how a law gets made, from a bill in Congress to a signature on the president's desk, with stops along the way. Who writes a law, who signs it and who can say it breaks the rules? In the United States the answers belong to different people. Congress is the part of the national government that makes laws, and it has two parts: the House of Representatives and the Senate, while the system of checks and balances lets each branch respond to the actions of the others. What follows is the path a bill takes through those hands, and then a look at how other places and other rule makers do the same job.

Here is a look at the Senate, one of the two houses of Congress. James Madison described the senatorial trust as one that requires greater extent of information and stability of character. Senators serve six-year terms. A person must be at least 30 years old to be a U.S. senator.

The two-house design has a history. In 1787, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation. The Articles essentially operated as a treaty between thirteen independent sovereigns. At the convention, the idea of amending them was discarded and the assembly set about drawing up a new scheme of government. The issue of representation threatened to destroy the seven-week-old convention. Edmund Randolph offered the Virginia plan, a bicameral legislature with each state's representation based on its population or wealth. William Paterson proposed the New Jersey plan, which provided for equal representation in Congress. Large-state delegates argued that their states contributed more to the nation's finances and defense, so they should have greater representation in both the Senate and the House.

The Great Compromise gave each state equal seats in the Senate and seats in the House based on population. Britannica says the Connecticut Compromise was offered by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth at the 1787 convention to solve the dispute between small and large states over representation. On July 16, 1787, the convention adopted it by a margin of one vote. The Constitution's federal system was the central compromise that allowed thirteen skeptical states to ratify it in 1788. In the Framers' federalism compromise, the national government got only those powers specifically delegated to it.

Next, a bill goes to a House committee. House committees often begin with a public hearing, where members hear witnesses who represent different viewpoints on the bill. After hearings, a House committee holds a "mark-up" session. Members study the viewpoints, may offer amendments, and vote to accept or reject the changes. A House committee may then report a new "clean bill" that includes all the amendments it approved, and the clean bill gets a new number. When a House committee votes to report a bill, it writes a Committee Report that describes the purpose and scope of the bill and the reasons for recommending approval.

Next comes the floor of the House; after a committee releases a bill, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. In the House, debate on a bill may be governed by a "rule", which is itself a simple resolution that the House must pass. A rule sets out the particulars of debate for a specific bill. Debate time on a House bill is normally divided between supporters and opponents. Each side gives time to the members who want to speak. House votes may also be by voice vote, and no record of individual responses is available. If the Senate and House pass different versions, a conference committee of members from both can settle the differences and report one identical bill back for a vote in each house.

Next, the president: once both houses have passed a bill in identical form, it is called "enrolled" and is sent to the president. The Government Publishing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The president then has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill. Article I, section 7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to veto bills passed by Congress. In a regular veto, the president returns the unsigned bill to the house of Congress where it began, within 10 days, usually with a memorandum of disapproval or a veto message. President James Madison was the first president to use the pocket veto, in 1812. When both houses of Congress vote to override a veto, the Constitution says the votes are by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against the bill are entered in each house's journal. Even the threat of a veto can change the content of legislation long before a bill reaches the president. Orders, resolutions and votes that need both the Senate and House, except on adjournment, must also be presented to the president. If the president disapproves, two thirds of the Senate and House must repass them.

Next, the Federal Register: after the president signs a bill into law, it goes to the Office of the Federal Register, which assigns a law number and prepares it for publication as a slip law. At the end of each session of Congress, slip laws are compiled into bound volumes called the Statutes at Large, which are known as "session laws," while the United States Code is a codification of all general and permanent laws of the United States. Public laws affect society as a whole, and most laws passed by Congress are public laws.

Next, courts and the Constitution, which brings up the question of judicial review: in Marbury v. Madison, outgoing President John Adams had issued William Marbury a commission as justice of the peace, but the new Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to deliver it. Marbury sued to obtain it. With his decision, Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle of judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the courts to examine the actions of the legislative, executive and administrative arms of government and decide whether they are consistent with the constitution. Nothing stated in the Constitution gave the Court the specific power of judicial review, and it was not confirmed until 1803. Britannica says judicial review, in the sense of courts checking whether actions fit a constitution, depends on there being a written constitution. Before 1789, state courts had already overturned legislative acts that conflicted with state constitutions. Chief Justice Marshall asserted that the Supreme Court's responsibility to overturn unconstitutional legislation was a necessary consequence of its sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. Marshall wrote that it is "emphatically the province of the judicial department to say what the law is." Courts also have a long practice of reviewing the actions of administrative agencies, and this kind of review does not require a written constitution.

Next, the United Kingdom: in the United Kingdom, a bill must be approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords before it becomes an Act of Parliament. As of November 2026, a bill agreed by Parliament has to be approved by the King before it becomes law. In the UK, white papers outline proposals for new laws, and green papers ask for public comments before the white paper is published. Secondary legislation in the UK is used to make changes to law if the existing act of Parliament allows it. In the UK, the Parliament Acts provide a rarely used way of solving disagreement between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Next, Canada: a bill is a proposed law that becomes an act of Parliament if the Senate and the House of Commons adopt it in identical form and it is then given Royal Assent. Royal Assent is the Sovereign's acceptance of a bill, granted by the Governor General or one of the deputies of the Governor General. A bill is not given royal assent unless it has gone through all the stages of the legislative process and been passed by both Houses in identical form. Bills involving spending or taxation must be introduced in the House of Commons, though most bills may be introduced in either House.

Next, California: in California, a bill starts when a person or group persuades a member of the Legislature to author it. The Legislative Counsel's Office then drafts it into the actual bill, and a bill with a fiscal impact or state cost is heard in the Senate or Assembly Appropriations Committees. After a bill passes its house of origin, it goes to the second house and passes through the committee process all over again. Each bill must appear in the Daily File for four days before being heard in a committee. Most bills require a majority vote, while urgency measures and appropriation bills require a two-thirds vote.

Next, agencies, which also make rules, and the way a rule is made has its own steps. An agency cannot issue a rule unless a law gives it the authority to do so. Rulemaking is the policy-making process by which federal executive and independent agencies develop and issue rules, which are also called regulations. An agency often proposes a regulation in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking after it researches the issues and decides a new rule is necessary. After the comment period closes, an agency reviews all comments received and conducts a comment analysis. A rulemaking process can lead to a new rule, an amendment to an existing rule, or the repeal of an existing rule.

Words to know

• bicameral: two-house
• judicial: of the courts
• codification: organized collection
• federalism: shared power
• regulations: agency rules