Bills, Resolutions, Nominations, and Treaties: Characteristics and Examples of Use

Contents

• Introduction
• Characteristics of Congressional Business
• Legislative Measures
• Bills (H.R. or S.)
• Joint Resolutions (S.J.Res. or H.J.Res.)
• Concurrent Resolutions (S.Con.Res. or H.Con.Res.)
• Simple Resolutions (H.Res. or S.Res.)
• The Senate's Executive Business
• Nominations (PN)
• Treaties (Treaty Doc.)
• Forms of Business Before Congress

Summary

In each chamber of Congress, four forms of legislative measures may be introduced (or, in the case of resolutions, submitted) and acted on: bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and resolutions of one house ("simple resolutions"). In addition, under the U.S. Constitution, the Senate acts on two forms of executive business: nominations and treaties. This report provides a comparison of the formal characteristics and uses of these six different types of business.

When Congress seeks to pass a law, it uses a bill or joint resolution, which must be passed by both houses in identical form and then presented to the President for the executive's approval or disapproval. To regulate its own internal affairs, or for other purposes where authority of law is not necessary, Congress uses a concurrent resolution (requiring adoption by both houses) or a simple resolution (requiring action only in the house of origin).

Bills are commonly used for lawmaking purposes such as authorizing programs, appropriating funds, raising or lowering revenues, and other major policy enactments. Joint resolutions are used chiefly for secondary, symbolic, or declaratory legislation but also for such matters as continuing appropriations, declarations of war, and proposing constitutional amendments. Concurrent resolutions are used for matters affecting both chambers, such as recesses, adjournments, and the congressional budget resolution. Simple resolutions are used for adopting chamber rules, committee assignments, discipline of Members, expressions of sentiment, and other housekeeping purposes in each chamber.

The Senate also considers nominations and treaties. This "executive business" is so called because it is transmitted by the President, who must obtain the advice and consent of the Senate before the nomination or treaty becomes effective.

Introduction

Congress uses a bill or joint resolution to propose a law. A joint resolution is also used to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These legislative measures must be passed by both houses in identical form. Bills and joint resolutions not proposing constitutional amendments are then presented to the President for approval or disapproval.

To regulate its own internal affairs, or for other purposes where authority of law is not necessary, Congress uses a concurrent resolution (requiring adoption by both houses) or a simple resolution (requiring action only in the house of origin).

The Senate also considers nominations and treaties. This "executive business" is so called because it is transmitted by the President, who must obtain the advice and consent of the Senate before the nomination or treaty becomes effective.

Characteristics of Congressional Business

The six forms of congressional business (i.e., bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, simple resolutions, nominations, and treaties) may be compared in terms of the following characteristics: designation, origin, deadline for action, requirements for approval, and product or use. The characteristics of each form of business are displayed in Table 1. They are described below.

• Designation: series in which business of each form is numbered. Legislative designation is noted by H.R. and S. (bills), H.J.Res. and S.J.Res. (joint resolutions), H.Con.Res. and S.Con.Res. (concurrent resolutions), and H.Res. and S.Res. (simple resolutions). Nominations are designated by PN number and treaties are designated by Treaty Doc. number.
• Origin: who may formally introduce, submit, or transmit to Congress business of each form.
• Deadline for action: point at which business of each form ceases to be available for action (if not earlier disposed of).
• Requirements for approval: institutions that must act for business of each form to be enacted, finally agreed to, or advised and consented to.
• Product or use: result of successful action on business of each form.

Legislative Measures

Congress uses each of the four forms of legislative measures (i.e., bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions) for a variety of purposes. The following lists identify the most prevalent uses of each. Citations to relevant CRS reports are provided.

Bills (H.R. or S.)

Bills are the most common form of legislative measure considered by Congress.¹ Bills originating in the House are designated by H.R. followed by the bill number. Those originating in the Senate begin with an S. designation. To become law, a bill must be passed in identical form (the same text and bill number) by both houses before presentation to the President for signature.² Bills may be used for a variety of purposes, such as:

• authorization or reauthorization of federal policies, programs, and activities³;
• amendment of existing law;
• establishment of federal departments and agencies or alteration of their structure;
• revenue (tax) legislation (originates in House only)⁴;
• regular annual general appropriations;⁵
• supplemental appropriations⁶;
• reconciliation bills⁷; and
• private bills.⁸

Joint Resolutions (S.J.Res. or H.J.Res.)

Like bills, joint resolutions are lawmaking vehicles and must be agreed to by both houses in identical form. Excepting those measures that propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution, they are presented to the President for signature. However, they may differ from bills in their purpose.⁹ The uses of joint resolutions include:

• proposed constitutional amendments¹⁰;
• declaration of war or authorization of military force¹¹;
• continuing resolutions¹²;
• transfers of appropriations;
• adjustments of the debt limit¹³;
• declarations of commitment to a treaty or abrogation (repeal) of a treaty;
• alteration of the date for a convening of Congress¹⁴;
• resolutions of disapproval or approval of specified executive actions¹⁵;
• extensions of expiration or reporting dates under existing law;
• congratulations, condolences, condemning actions, welcomes, thanks, etc.¹⁶; and
• recognition of and support for commemorative periods.¹⁷

Concurrent Resolutions (S.Con.Res. or H.Con.Res.)

Congress uses concurrent resolutions to regulate the joint affairs of the House and Senate. To go into effect, concurrent resolutions must be agreed to by both the House and the Senate. They are not lawmaking vehicles and are not submitted to the President for approval. Concurrent resolutions are designated by an S.Con.Res. or H.Con.Res., depending on the chamber of origin. Concurrent resolutions may be used for purposes that include:

• congressional budget resolutions,¹⁸
• adjournment sine die,¹⁹
• recess of either or both houses of more than three days,²⁰
• providing for a joint session of Congress,
• creation of a joint committee,
• correction of conference reports or enrolled bills,²¹
• request for return of measures presented to the President,²² and
• "sense of Congress" resolutions.²³

Simple Resolutions (H.Res. or S.Res.)²⁴

Simple resolutions concern the internal affairs of one chamber. They are not used to make law and accordingly do not require the approval of the other house of Congress. Simple resolutions are used for adopting chamber rules, committee assignments, discipline of Members, expressions of sentiment, and other housekeeping purposes in each chamber. Uses include:

• adoption or amendment of House or Senate rules²⁵;
• special rules (for considering a measure) or other "order of business resolution" (House)²⁶;
• establishment of a standing order (primarily Senate)²⁷;
• privileges of the House resolution (House)²⁸;
• "blue slip resolutions" (House)²⁹;
• disposition of contest to a Member's election³⁰;
• expulsion of a Member³¹;
• censure or other discipline of a Member³²;
• citation for contempt of Congress³³;
• authorization of response to subpoena by Members, chamber officers, or employees;
• resolutions of ratification (Senate)³⁴;
• election of committee members or chamber officers³⁵;
• committee funding³⁶;
• authorization of expenditures from the contingent fund of the Senate or from the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives;
• creation of a special or select committee³⁷;
• resolutions of inquiry (primarily House)³⁸;
• providing notifications to the other house or the President;
• requests for the other house to return a measure for correction³⁹;
• discharge of committee from a measure, nomination, or treaty (Senate)⁴⁰;
• instructions to conferees already appointed (Senate)⁴¹;
• establishment of, requests for establishment of, or recognition of and support for commemorative periods (primarily Senate)⁴²; and
• "sense of the Senate" or "sense of the House" resolutions.⁴³

The Senate's Executive Business

Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution grants the President the power to make treaties and appoint "Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States" whose appointments are established by law by and with "the Advice and Consent of the Senate." Treaty approval requires the consent of "two thirds of the Senate." Nominations are approved by "a majority of Senators present and voting, a quorum being present."⁴⁴ See the citations for relevant CRS reports.

Nominations (PN)

Nominations are designated by PN followed by a number. PN refers to presidential nominating message. The nominating message may contain more than one nomination. Conversely, a renominated nominee, or one nominated for more than one position, will be associated with more than one PN number. Thus, the designation PN100 refers to the 100^th presidential nominating message received by the Senate during a Congress, not the 100^th nomination submitted by the President.

Nominations that are still pending at the end of a congressional session, or when the Senate recesses for more than 30 days, are returned to the President unless the Senate, by unanimous consent, orders them not to be returned.⁴⁵ If the Senate does not act before the end of a Congress, however, the nomination is returned to the President and is no longer eligible for Senate consideration.⁴⁶

Treaties (Treaty Doc.)

Treaties are designated by Treaty Doc. (or Treaty Document) followed by a compound number.⁴⁷ The number indicates the Congress and sequence in which the treaty and any accompanying materials was received by the Senate. For instance, Treaty Doc. 115-3 was the third treaty document received in the 115^th Congress.

The Senate provides "advice and consent" to treaties by agreeing to a "resolution of advice and consent to ratification." This resolution is a simple resolution, but it is not identified by S.Res. or a number. Instead, the Senate's actions regarding the treaty and the advice and consent resolution are noted under the Treaty Doc. listing in Congress.gov.

A treaty does not have a deadline for Senate approval. Unless it is withdrawn by the President or acted on by the Senate, it remains pending for an indefinite number of Congresses.⁴⁸

Forms of Business Before Congress

The following table compares all six of the forms of business on which the House or Senate acts in terms of the following characteristics: designation, origin, deadline for action, requirements for approval, and product or use.

Richard S. Beth, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process (retired), prepared Table 1 and is the author of two CRS reports that provided the basis for this report: CRS Report 98-706, Bills and Resolutions: Examples of How Each Kind Is Used; and CRS Report 98-728, Bills, Resolutions, Nominations, and Treaties: Characteristics, Requirements, and Uses.

Footnotes