Glossary of Congress Terms
The words Congress uses for its votes and steps, each in plain language: what it means, and what it does not decide.
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Kinds of measure
Everything Congress votes on is one of five kinds of measure, and the kind decides which steps it can take. Only bills and joint resolutions can become law.
- Bill (H.R., S.)
- A bill: it becomes law only if the House and the Senate both pass it in the same form and the President signs it, or Congress overrides a refusal.
- Joint resolution (H.J.Res., S.J.Res.)
- A joint resolution works like a bill: both chambers pass it and the President signs it, and then it is law. The exception is a proposed change to the Constitution, which goes to the states instead of the President.
- Concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res., S.Con.Res.)
- A concurrent resolution is how the House and the Senate settle something they do together, such as a budget plan or a joint session. It is adopted once both chambers agree to it, and that puts it into effect; it is not a law, so it does not go to the President.
- House resolution (H.Res.)
- A House resolution is the House speaking for itself: stating a position, honouring someone, or setting its own rules. Adopting it is the whole process. Once the House agrees to it, it is officially the House's word; it is not a law, so the Senate and the President have no part in it.
- Senate resolution (S.Res.)
- A Senate resolution is the Senate speaking for itself: stating a position, honouring someone, or setting its own rules. Adopting it is the whole process. Once the Senate agrees to it, it is officially the Senate's word; it is not a law, so the House and the President have no part in it.
Votes and steps
The words in a bill's history and on a vote's page, alphabetically. Most of the votes on a bill only move it along, and one or two decide it; each entry says what it does and does not settle.
- Amendment submitted
- Put forward, not yet decided. A member formally offered a change to the bill, or filed a request to end debate on one. This step decides nothing: whether the chamber takes it up, and what it decides, is recorded later.
- Cloture motion
- A vote to end debate and allow a final vote. In the Senate, debate can continue indefinitely unless 60 senators vote to end it. This vote is that attempt. It decides whether the Senate may vote on the thing at all — not whether the thing passes. A failed cloture vote usually ends the matter without anyone ever voting on its merits.
- Concur in the amendment
- A vote to accept the other chamber's changes. The House and Senate passed different versions. This votes on accepting the other chamber's wording, which is the last step before the bill goes to the President.
- Conference report
- A vote on the single version both chambers negotiated. The House and Senate passed different bills and a joint group merged them. This is a yes-or-no vote on the merged text, which cannot be amended.
- Continuing resolution
- A short-term bill to keep the government funded. A stopgap that keeps agencies running at current funding levels because the full budget was not agreed in time. Failing to pass one is what causes a government shutdown.
- Election of the Speaker
- The vote that chose the Speaker of the House. Instead of voting yes or no, each member names the person they want to lead the House, and the count is how many named each person. Whoever is named by a majority of the members who name someone becomes Speaker; if nobody is, the House votes again. The Speaker presides over the House and largely decides which bills reach a vote.
- Engrossed
- The version one chamber actually passed. The official text as it left the House or Senate, including every amendment adopted on the floor. It is the version the other chamber now takes up.
- Enrolled
- The final version, on its way to the President. Both chambers have passed identical text and this is it. The only step left is the President signing or refusing it.
- Held at the desk
- Kept ready for the floor instead of being sent to a committee. The Senate has received it and, rather than handing it to a committee, is holding it so it can be taken up directly. That is usually a sign the leadership wants it available, not a promise that it will be called.
- Introduced
- Formally proposed, and nothing more yet. Any member may introduce any bill. Introduction is not a sign of support, of momentum, or of any likelihood of passing.
- Joint resolution
- The vote on whether to pass the joint resolution. A joint resolution is a bill by another name: it goes to the other chamber and then to the President. Most of them are used to overturn a rule an agency has made.
- Motion to adjourn
- A vote on whether to end the day's session. Housekeeping, not policy. It is sometimes used to delay other business.
- Motion to commit
- A vote to send the measure to a committee instead of deciding it now. Usually an attempt by the side that expects to lose to change the measure or delay it. If it fails, the measure stays on the floor and the chamber goes on to decide it.
- Motion to discharge
- A vote to take a measure away from a committee that has not acted on it. A committee can hold a measure indefinitely. This asks the whole chamber to take it away from the committee and bring it to the floor. If it fails, the measure stays where it was.
- Motion to proceed
- A vote on whether to start debating something. This decides only whether the chamber takes the measure up at all. Nothing about the measure itself has been decided when it passes.
- Motion to recommit
- A last attempt to send the bill back to committee. The minority party's final chance to change or stall a bill just before the vote on passage. It almost always fails; when it succeeds, the bill does not get its final vote that day.
- Motion to reconsider
- The vote just before this succeeded, and this locks it in. After a bill or a change to one is approved, any member could ask for the vote to be taken again. Setting that request aside — "laying it on the table" — makes the approval final. It is the routine last step after a bill passes the House, so this means the chamber said yes, not that the bill was shelved.
- Motion to table
- A vote to kill something without debating it. Setting a measure aside permanently. A successful motion to table ends the matter, so a vote for tabling is a vote against whatever was tabled.
- Motion to waive
- A vote to set aside an objection that the measure breaks a budget rule. A senator objected that the measure spends or cuts more than the budget allows. Sixty votes set that objection aside; fewer, and the measure is stopped by the objection without a vote on what it would do.
- Nay
- A vote against. The chamber's word for no. As with yes, the House says "no" on some votes and "nay" on others; both are counted together here.
- On consideration
- A vote on whether to take the measure up at all. Nothing about the measure itself has been decided when this passes. It only lets the chamber begin.
- On Passage
- The vote on whether to pass the bill. This is the real decision in this chamber. Passing here sends the bill to the other chamber, which must pass it too before it can go to the President.
- On the Amendment
- A vote on a proposed change to the bill. A vote on one change, not on the bill. A bill can collect dozens of these, and losing one does not stop it.
- On the Nomination
- The vote on whether to confirm a Presidential appointee. The Senate deciding whether a person the President chose gets the job — a judge, a cabinet secretary, an ambassador. Only the Senate does this; the House has no part in it.
- Placed on the Calendar
- In the queue for a floor vote, with no date set. The calendar is a list, not a schedule. Being on it means the chamber may take the measure up; the majority leadership decides what actually comes to the floor and when, and most of what is placed on the calendar is never called.
- Previous question
- A vote to stop debate and move to the decision. A House procedural vote that closes off further debate and amendments. It is about the schedule, not the substance, and it usually falls along party lines.
- Quorum call
- A headcount, not a decision. A check that enough members are present for the chamber to do business. Nothing is decided, and a member's position here says nothing about their views.
- Received in the Senate
- Arrived in the other chamber; nothing has happened to it there yet. One chamber passed it and the other has formally taken delivery. Nothing has been decided: the next step is to send it to a committee, put it on the calendar, or leave it where it is.
- Referred
- Handed to a committee to examine. The routine first step for nearly every bill. Most bills are referred and never heard from again, so this is a beginning rather than progress.
- Reported
- A committee approved it and sent it to the floor. A real milestone: the large majority of bills never get this far. It means the full chamber may now vote on it, not that it will.
- Resolution
- The vote on whether to adopt the resolution. A resolution is one chamber speaking for itself — setting its own rules, taking a position, honouring someone — and it never goes to the President. Agreeing to it is the whole decision.
- Roll call
- A vote counted name by name. A vote where every member's position is written down individually and published. Most decisions are made by a voice vote that records nobody; a roll call is the kind you can hold a representative to.
- Suspension of the rules
- A fast-track vote, needing two-thirds to pass. The House sets aside its normal procedure to move quickly: no amendments, little debate, and a two-thirds bar instead of a simple majority. It is used for measures expected to be uncontroversial, so a bill that fails here failed despite broad expectations that it would not.
- Veto override
- A vote to pass a bill over the President's objection. The President refused to sign this, and the chamber is voting to enact it anyway. That takes two-thirds of both chambers, which is why most attempts fail.
- Yea
- A vote in favour. The chamber's word for yes. The House says "aye" instead on some votes and "yea" on others; the two mean the same thing and are counted together here.
How a bill moves through these steps, and how many get through each one, is on How a bill becomes law.