what we send ppl to DC for

congress has 2 chambers (House & Senate) and votes on 5 things an how they vote on these is all that matters, all the TV interviews and debates and bla bla bla means jack shit, the only thing that matters is how they vote

1. bills - can originate in either chamber (House or Senate) & has potential to become law/act
2. joint resolutions - same as bill (but only J.R. can be used to ammend the constitution)
3. concurrent resolutions - rules for all of congress -> has to pass BOTH House & Senate (no pres tho)
4. simple resolutions - rules introduced by, & meant for ONLY 1 chamber (fubu, no pres, no other chamber)
5. presidential appointments - mostly judges appointed by pres but confirmed only by Senate

bills and joint resolutions are the ONLY things that has potential to become laws/acts, the other two types of resolutions just pertain to congress, they dont become laws and the pres doesnt sign off on them they just for congress, typically procedure and stuff, or their work schedule an all that, and last is some appointments made by pres that Senate has to vote on

how bill becomes laws/acts
(simple)
1.
pass House with anything over 50% (just a simple majority is needed)
2.
pass Senate with at least 60 yes votes (need more than a simple majority, 60%)
3.
pres sigs into law
(longer)
0.
bill introduced by any congressmen, any chamber, & parlimentarian then directs it to the appropriate committee
1.
pass sub-committee
2.
pass full-committee
3.
majority party leadershp decides if or when it gets floor vote
4.
pass floor vote (means >50% in House, & most times =>60% in Senate)
5.
kick it to other chamber of congress and do all same process (sub, full, majority leadership says if or when)
6.
pass other chamber floor vote (means >50% in House, & most times =>60% in Senate)
7.
constitution says a bill has to pass both chambers w identical language before it can go to the pres, so a "conference committee" is made using ppl from both House & Senate to shore up any edits or ammendments made to the bill by either chamber and make a final version of the bill, if they come to a compromise they create a final version called a "conference report" -> kick back to 1 of the chambers to start its journey of approval (or not)
8.
pass floor vote on new compromised version or conference report (no ammendments are allowed)
9.
kick to other chamber
10.
pass floor vote on new compromised version or conference report in other chamber (no ammendments allowed)
11.
pres sign into law

*joint resolution is the same thing as a bill, can be signed into law and goes throuh same process as a bill, its just a different word and mostly certain types of legislation is introduced through a joint resolution vs a bill, so thats the only real difference is the type of laws that are pased through joint resolutions vs bills can be catergorized and grouped differently for the most part but its not set in stone just a traditional way congress has organized it but they are effectively the same and go through same process to become law. a joint res is the only legislation that can be used to ammend constitution though, and if doing this it needs 2/3 yes votes in both chambers of congress tho doesnt require president

**the bills or joint resolutions can fail at multiple spots all along they way, it can get voted down in sub or full committee or on floor in one chamber as well as all the same places in the other chamber, and then also in the conference comittee (sometimes cant come to a compromise) and the pres can send it back to congress or pocket veto and bla bla bla but this how it works, and if you know this then you can understand who to blame

 

good example about all the "what congress votes on" jargon is the recent rail union debacle, both concurrent resolutions AND joint resolutions were used

background (tldr = scroll to 4min vid):
railway labor act was passed in 1924, then ammended in 1936 to include airlines, they are supposedly vital to our economy in a way that requres special rules in settling labor disputes, the act essentially adds a few more layers of stalling and "are you sure" (lol) before self help or strikes are allowed, essentially 3 more rounds of negotiation attempts by progressively greater authorites

how unions work:
the union bosses go to the negotiation room and hash it out with the mgmt and when they think they got a deal the rest of the union membership will vote yes on they've reached whats called a "tentative agreement", then they propose it to the rest of the workers who vote yes or no on it, ie to ratify the tentative agreement or not. its a 2 stetp process, first have to get a tentative agreement, then it gets put to the test w the rest of the workers in a union vote

Rounds of Negotiation (under railway labor act)
1.
direct negotiations, then
2.
mediator from national mediation board steps in and tries to help, then
3.
arbitration board steps in and tries to help (but only if both sides agree) - means its out of unions and mgmts hands, just whatever the arbitration board decides goes, no tentative agreemetns and no ratification votes, but either party can reject arbitration, and if that happens, then
4.
super mediation - another round of neogotiation for "what the hell" sake
5.
notify president if its vital to economy and he create a "Presidential Emergency Board" and they study for 1mo and then give some reccomendations and try to help negotiate, if no tentative agrements are made then the unions can legally strike and mgmt can also "self help"



to reduce economic impacts the railway labor act was made and thats what ended the possible strike, Biden and unions made tentative agreements during the PEB (presidential emergency board) round of negotiations, (the latest of which only 8 out of 12 unions ratified), and so this is why congress moved to enact the latest tentative agreement into law.

1st was a "joint resolution" , meaning a bill, and first introduced in the House, H.J.Res. 100

(all the "where as" clauses on first pg are just listing the conditions which theyve satisfied under RLA, next pg says
"
to avoid any labor dispute that threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce... ..., the most recent tentative agreements entered into by the covered parties... ...shall be binding on such covered parties to such unresolved disputes, and shall have the same effect as though arrived at by agreement of such covered parties under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.
")
Roll Call 490 Roll Call 490, Bill Number: H. J. Res. 100, 117th Congress, 2nd Session
passes House

2nd was a "concurrent resolution" to add 7days paid sick leave to H.J.Res 100 , meaning a rule both chambers agree on, and introduced in the House, H.Con.Res. 119

Roll Call 491 Roll Call 491, Bill Number: H. Con. Res. 119, 117th Congress, 2nd Session
passes House

congress made a bill to enforce the latest tentative agreement between railway union bosses and mgmt, and then they made a concurrent resolution to ammend the bill to add 7 days of paid sick leave, ie the thing that was holding up the ratification of the last tentative agreement, the senate republicans rejected the concurrent resolution, ie the rule to ammend the bill to add 7 days of sick leave, while 80 senators in bipartisan effort still voted in favor of enforcing the last tentative agreement onto the workers and mgmt
U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session
U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session