Sponsorship and Cosponsorship
of House Bills
Updated February 18, 2021
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
RS22477
Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
Summary
A Representative who introduces a bil or resolution in the House is cal ed its sponsor. Several
Members together may submit a bil , but only the Member whose name appears first is
considered its sponsor; the others are cosponsors. A bil can have only one sponsor, but there is no
limit on the number of cosponsors it may have.
Representatives may introduce bil s in the House by placing them in the wooden box, or
“hopper,” located at the bil clerk’s desk on the chamber floor when the House is in session, or by
transmitting them electronical y to a dedicated email server maintained by the Office of the
House Clerk. In either case, the original signature of the sponsor must appear on the measure
when it is introduced. Cosponsors do not sign the bil . To add cosponsors, the sponsor may drop
in the hopper a cosponsorship form prepared by the Clerk’s office that identifies the names and
states of Members who want to be cosponsors. Cosponsorship forms also may be submitted
electronical y.
Rule XII, clause 7(c) requires sponsors to provide a statement of constitutional authority at the
time of introduction.
Representatives may cosponsor a bil either at the time of its introduction or subsequently.
Members whose names are submitted with a bil at the time of introduction are commonly
referred to as “original” cosponsors. Once a bil has been introduced, Members may add their
names as cosponsors until the committee(s) to which it was referred have filed their reports with
the House or have been discharged from further consideration.
Supporters of a bil often seek cosponsors to demonstrate its support among Members and
improve its chances for passage. One of the most common techniques to attract cosponsors is the
“Dear Colleague” letter, a notice delivered to some or al Member offices either in print or via
email. These letters are so cal ed after the salutation with which they begin.
Congressional Research Service
Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
Representative who introduces a bil or resolution in the House is cal ed its sponsor.
Under House Rule XII, clause 7, several Members together may submit a bil , but only
A the Member whose name appears first is considered its sponsor; the others are
cosponsors. A bil can have only one sponsor, but there is no limit on the number of cosponsors it
may have.1
Sponsorship of a Bill
Representatives may introduce bil s or resolutions in the House in one of two ways: by placing
them in the wooden box, or “hopper,” located at the bil clerk’s desk on the chamber floor when
the House is in session (including a “pro forma” session), or by transmitting them electronical y
to a dedicated email server maintained by the Office of the House Clerk.2 Either way, an original
signature of the sponsor must appear on the measure when it is introduced. Cosponsors do not
sign the bil . To add cosponsors, the sponsor may drop in the hopper or submit electronical y to
the Clerk’s office a cosponsorship form that identifies the names and states of Members who
want to be cosponsors.3 Cosponsorship is general y viewed as a sign that the Member supports
the measure.
Rule XII, clause 7(c) requires that sponsors provide a statement of constitutional authority at the
time of introduction.4 The constitutional authority of Congress is set forth beginning in Article I,
Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “Al legislative Powers herein granted shal
be vested in a Congress of the United States.” Article 1, Section 8 of the founding document
contains additional clarity regarding Congress’s enumerated powers.5 The constitutional authority
statement is not required to accompany the introduction of simple or concurrent resolutions,
neither of which can become law.
Members typical y sponsor bil s they support. On occasion, a Representative may introduce a bil
as a courtesy, such as legislation proposed by the President or a senior Administration official.
Citizens and interest group representatives may also ask a Member to introduce legislation on
their behalf. In these cases, the sponsor may designate the bil as introduced “by request.” As
House Rule XII, clause 7(a)(5) states, “When a bil or resolution is introduced ‘by request,’ those
words shal be entered on the Journal and printed in the Congressional Record.” Introducing a bil
“by request” al ows for a degree of separation between the sponsor of the measure and the
legislative text it contains.
1 T welve bills with multiple sponsors were introduced on January 4, 1995 , in accordance with H.Res. 6 (104th
Congress), the House rules package adopted for the 104th Congress (1995-1996). Pursuant to §223(g) of H.Res. 6, the
first 20 bills and the first two joint resolutions introduced in the 104th Congress were allowed to have two or more
Members reflected as the sponsor.
2 Instructions to electronically submit bills, cosponsorship forms, and other legislative documents via the Clerk’s office
can be found on HouseNet, the House’s internal website, at https://housenet.house.gov/legislative/legislative-actions/
electronic-submission-of-legislative-documents. See also the Speaker’s “ Dear Colleague” letter of April 6, 2020, at
https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/4620. On bill introduction in the House more generally, see CRS Report R44001,
Introducing a House Bill or Resolution, by Mark J. Oleszek.
3 Cosponsorship forms are available for download on HouseNet, at https://housenet.house.gov/sites/
housenet.house.gov/files/forms/Add-Cosponsor-Form.pdf.
4 Constitutional authority forms are available for download on the website of the Office of Legislative Counsel at
http://legcoun.house.gov/members/HOLC/Resources/casform.pdf.
5 House Legislative Counsel provides guidance on meeting this requirement at http://legcoun.house.gov/members/
HOLC/Resources/const_auth_statement.html.
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Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
A sponsor may not reclaim a measure after it has been assigned a number and referred to
committee, a process that normal y occurs on the same day a measure is introduced. Once a
measure has been numbered and referred, it becomes the property of the House and its text cannot
be modified by the sponsor (or any other Member), even by unanimous consent, regardless of
how cosmetic any modifications might be. It is too late at this point to make any changes to the
bil except by amending it on the House floor during its consideration.6 Of course, a sponsor may
decide to introduce a new bil containing whatever textual adjustments need to be made.
Introduced bil s and resolutions can be taken up by the House even if the sponsor resigns from the
House or dies. If a sponsor is no longer a Member of the House, another Member may be
designated “first sponsor” by unanimous consent to manage cosponsorship requests involving
measures sponsored by the departed Member.7 A current Member may also draft and introduce a
similar or identical y worded bil to one sponsored by a departed Member, in which case the
current Member would be identified as the sponsor.
Cosponsorship of a Bill
Representatives may cosponsor a bil or resolution either at the time of its introduction or
subsequently.8 Members whose names are submitted with the measure at the time of introduction
are commonly referred to as “original” cosponsors, and those Members wil be identified as such
when the bil is first printed. Once a bil has been introduced, Members may add or remove their
names as cosponsors until the bil has been reported from al the committees to which it is
referred, or until the committees in possession of the bil have been discharged from further
consideration. If an unreported bil is scheduled for consideration on the House floor—which may
occur by way of the suspension procedure (House Rule XV) or under the terms of a special rule
reported by the Rules Committee and agreed to by the House—then cosponsors may be added or
removed up to the point that a vote occurs on the motion to suspend the rules or the measure is
cal ed up under the terms of the special rule.
Adding cosponsors can be accomplished with the same form used to identify original cosponsors.
Completed forms are to be signed by the sponsor and placed in the hopper when the House is in
session, or submitted electronical y to the Clerk’s office. The names of added cosponsors wil
appear in the Congressional Record and in any subsequent printings of the bil . Sponsors and
cosponsors of bil s and resolutions may also be found by searching Congress.gov, an online
database of legislative activity.9 House Rule XII, clause 7(b) al ows a bil to be reprinted if 20 or
6 On House amending practices, see CRS Report 98-995, The Amending Process in the House of Representatives, by
Christopher M. Davis.
7 Proceedings to designate a Member as “first sponsor” can be found in the Congressional Record, daily edition, vol.
166 (September 14, 2020), p. H4371 . If anot her Member is not so designated, then a Member may request unanimous
consent to be added as a cosponsor to an unreported bill sponsored by a departed Member. Ordinarily, the presiding
officer will not entertain requests made on the House floor to be added as a cosponsor.
8 Only House bills and resolutions may be cosponsored by Members. Support for a Senate measure can be expressed in
alternative ways, for instance through a floor statement made during a period reserved for nonlegislative debate. See
CRS Report R46626, Nonlegislative Debate in the House: One-Minute, Morning-Hour, and Special-Order Speeches,
by Jane A. Hudiburg. Another option is provided for in Section 3(x) of H.Res. 8, the rules package for the 117th
Congress (2021-2022), which establishes a process managed by the House Clerk for Members to publicly register their
support for individual Senate-passed measures that have been received by the House.
9 While amendments generally do not obtain cosponsors, a protocol of the House Rules Committee prioritizes for floor
consideration any amendment submitted t o the Rules Committee that lists 20 or more cosponsors from each party on a
form prepared by the Rules Committee and available online at https://rules.house.gov/rules-and-resources/rules-
committee-protocol.
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Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
more cosponsors have been added since the previous printing, provided the sponsor submits a
written request to the Speaker to have the bil reprinted.
A cosponsor may also have his or her name removed from a bil until the last committee of
referral has filed its report with the House or has been discharged from its consideration. While
adding cosponsors can be transacted through the hopper, removing a cosponsorship requires the
sponsor of the bil to make a unanimous consent request to that effect on the House floor.10
Cosponsors also may remove themselves from a bil or resolution by making this request on the
House floor. Removal initiated by a cosponsor does not require the unanimous consent of the
House.
Rules governing the number of cosponsors permitted on a bil have changed over the years. From
1967 to 1979, House rules limited the number of cosponsors to 25 per bil , requiring the
introduction of identical bil s when the number of cosponsors exceeded 25. Since 1979, an
unlimited number of cosponsors have been al owed. Private bil s are prohibited from having
cosponsors.11
Rules first adopted by the House in the 116th Congress and reaffirmed in the 117th Congress
(2021-2022) offer a possible pathway to the floor for unreported but broadly supported measures
that attract at least 290 cosponsors. Under Clause 7 of House Rule XV, measures that maintain
290 or more cosponsors for a cumulative period of 25 legislative days can be placed on a
“Consensus Calendar” if the sponsor submits a request to the House Clerk to put the measure on
this calendar.12 On weeks in which the House convenes—unless before March 1 of an odd-
numbered year or after September 30 of an even-numbered year (the first and last months of a
Congress)—Rule XV requires the Speaker to designate and schedule for floor consideration at
least one measure listed on the Consensus Calendar.13
Gaining Cosponsors
Supporters of a bil often seek cosponsors to demonstrate its popularity and improve its chances
for passage. One of the most common techniques to attract cosponsors is the “Dear Colleague”
letter, a notice delivered to some or al Member offices either in print or via email. These letters
are so-cal ed after the salutation with which they begin.14
No House rules govern “Dear Colleague” letters. They are, in effect, a sponsor’s advertisement
for a bil (or, sometimes, an amendment). A typical letter wil briefly state the issue the bil
addresses, its major components, and its policy importance, and include an invitation to sign on as
a cosponsor. Almost always, they carry the name and email address of a staff aide to contact. A
10 An example statement to this effect can be found in the Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 165 (September 26,
2019), p. H8041.
11 For additional information on the consideration of private bills in the House, see CRS Report R45287, Private Bills:
Procedure in the House, by Christopher M. Davis.
12 A “legislative” day is a period of time that starts when the House convenes following an adjournment and ends when
the chamber next adjourns. T he House normally adjourns at the end of each day, so in most cases a “legislative” day
corresponds with a “calendar” day (a standard 24-hour period).
13 As with other standing rules, the terms of clause 7 of House Rule XV may be modified as applied to a particular
measure by House adoption of a special rule from the Rules Committee. Additional information on the Consensus
Calendar can be found in CRS Report R46485, The House Consensus Calendar: Establishm ent, Principal Features,
and Practice in the 116th Congress (2019 -2020), by Jane A. Hudiburg.
14 See CRS Report R44768, “Dear Colleague” Letters in the House of Representatives: Past Practices and Issues for
Congress, by Jacob R. Straus.
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Sponsorship and Cosponsorship of House Bills
system for distributing “Dear Colleagues” electronical y was implemented in the 110th
Congress.15
Before a bil is formal y introduced, a Member who wishes to become a cosponsor, or an aide
acting at his or her direction, may contact the sponsoring Member’s office and request that his or
her name be added to the bil . A form listing cosponsors is usually kept by a staff aide and
submitted along with the bil at introduction. After the bil is introduced, a Member may also
contact the sponsor’s office and ask to be listed as a cosponsor. The sponsor decides when to
submit these additional cosponsors to the House Clerk for publication in the Congressional
Record.
Author Information
Mark J. Oleszek
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
Acknowledgments
The original version of this report was written by former CRS Specialist Richard C. Sachs. Congressional
clients may direct any inquiries to the current author.
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
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copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
15 T he House’s “e-Dear Colleague” system is online at https://e-dearcolleague.house.gov.
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