Congress 101: Decoding Congress
Congress runs on a dense web of rules and procedures that can make it hard to follow what’s going on. Those rules exist for a reason, though, and many of them are critical to the functioning of a democratic system. At the same time, they can also create real confusion for anyone trying to advocate effectively.
The two most important bills in how the United States dictates its relationship are two yearly must pass bills: the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs (NSRP) or also known as the State & Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Both bills set how much the United States funds the Israeli military (within the NSRP/SFOPS) or the potential integration of the Israeli military with parts of the United States military (NDAA). Each bill moves through both chambers of Congress, and each chamber writes its own. It helps to understand how each bill differs, what you can actually do about each, and how a simple misunderstanding can undermine your advocacy.
The Difference Between the Chambers
Among the most important bills Congress passes each year are the appropriations bills that fund the entire United States government.
These bills move through several layers, beginning when the White House sends a budget request to Congress. From there:
Drafting. Someone - typically the staff of the Chair of the relevant subcommittee - will start with last year’s bill, and typically modify it to reflect, or at least consider, the President’s budget request. That draft then turns into the bill for the upcoming year.
Committee review. The bill goes through the committees and subcommittees that specialize in the agencies' areas of responsibility.
NSRP/SFOPS: The Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs in the House, and the State & Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee in the Senate, and then the full Appropriations Committees of both bodies.
NDAA: the Armed Services Committees in both the House and the Senate (with various Subcommittees drafting relevant portions of the bill).
Floor consideration. This step works differently in each chamber.
In the House: the bill goes to the Rules Committee, which sets the “rule” governing debate, including which amendments proposed by Members will be allowed to be debated and voted on by the House. The full House then votes on that rule; once it passes, the chamber debates and votes on the approved amendments. Because the House operates by simple majority, the party that controls the speakership stacks the Rules Committee, which means the majority party effectively decides the rule. It is normal for the opposition to vote against the rule on the floor while the majority votes for it.
A failed rule vote does two things. First, it signals that the Speaker has lost control or support of the caucus. Second, without a passed rule, the chamber cannot vote on the bill at all. In this sense, a failed rule vote is a statement about the Speaker.
In the Senate: the bill goes to the floor, where a cloture vote is held. Ending debate on an appropriations bill requires 60 votes to invoke cloture. If the Senate cannot invoke cloture, the bill cannot move to a final vote, this is what is known as a filibuster. For the minority, the filibuster is often the only tool available to strip out a provision they consider a dealbreaker. Compromise is a normal part of any legislative body, but sometimes the majority overreaches or the minority refuses to budge.
More Simplified: When a bill reaches the Senate floor, senators first vote on whether to stop debating it (called "cloture") and move to a final yes/no vote. That cloture vote needs 60 votes to pass. If it doesn't get 60, debate can continue indefinitely and the bill never gets a final vote. That's called a filibuster.
Because of this rule, a minority of senators (as few as 41) can block a bill just by refusing to let debate end. It's often the only leverage the minority has to force the Senate to consider the Amendments they would like to make to the Bill, or to kill a bill entirely. Like any negotiation, this system depends on both sides giving a little, but it breaks down when the majority pushes too hard or the minority won't budge at all.
Two different bills. Each chamber passes its own version of both the NDAA and NSRP/SFOPS. This is normal, members have different priorities and ideas. Once both chambers have passed their versions, they enter a conference, where the leadership of the respective committees negotiate which provisions from each bill are kept, dropped, or combined.
Voting on the conferenced bill. The conferenced bill is voted on as a new bill by each chamber, usually after several weeks of negotiation between the two chambers' leadership. No amendments are allowed to the conferenced bill.
The president. The conferenced bill goes to the president's desk to be signed into law or vetoed. Both chambers can override a veto with a two-thirds vote.
Why Does This Matter?
If you are advocating in Congress, you need to know what a given member can and cannot do. Take an example: I cannot call Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about Section 925 of the NDAA, which sits in S. 4785, the Senate's version of the bill. There are two reasons. First, I do not live in her district. Second, she sits in the House, not the Senate - so a provision in the Senate bill is outside her reach. She could, however, (and, indeed, did!) vote on H.R. 8800, the House version, and on Congressman Massie's amendment to remove military funding to Israel because both of these came to the floor of the House. The same limits apply in the other direction: I can’t call a senator from a State I do not live in, or call one about a bill that is still in the House. That is why a congressional office asks for your address or ZIP code when you call - they are confirming that you are a constituent.
The committee stage matters more than it might seem. The NSRP/SFOPS moves through the Senate and House Appropriations Committees and the NDAA moves through the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. For both bills, most of the real work happens in committee, before the bill ever reaches the floor. That is where provisions are drafted and where a public markup amends, strikes, or adds to them. This means the members who sit on the relevant committee have far more influence over what ends up in the bill than a member whose main tool is offering a floor amendment that the entire chamber must vote on.
If a member who represents you sits on one of these committees, your outreach carries extra weight. You are no longer contacting one vote out of hundreds; you are reaching someone with direct input into the language of the bill.
To make this easier, A New Policy offers two tools: one to see which committee a bill is in, and a new tool coming out soon to check which committees your own members sit on.
How to Tell the Chamber From the Bill
You can identify House bills by their prefixes:
H.R. - This is a House bill that will need to go through the Senate and has to be signed by the President if it is to become law.
H.Res. - This is a non-binding statement from the House that requires no further action once it passes
H.Con.Res. - This is a concurrent nonbinding Resolution of the House, meaning both the Senate and the House have to pass their own versions of the bill for it to be considered passed, but it does not require President enactment.
H.J.Res. - This is a Joint Resolution of both bodies that originated in the House and has to to be passed by both chambers be signed by the President if it is to become law
And Senate bills by theirs:
S. - A bill introduced in the Senate.that must go through the House and has to be signed by the President if it is to become law.
S.Res. - This is a non-binding statement from the Senate that requires no further action once it passes i
S.Con.Res. - This is a concurrent nonbinding Resolution of the Senate, meaning both the Senate and the House have to pass their own versions of the bill for it to be considered passed, but it does not require President enactment.
S.J.Res. - This is a Joint Resolution of both bodies that originated in the Senate and has to be passed by both chambers and signed by the President if it is to become law.
Members are addressed differently by chamber as well.
House members: Congresswoman, Congressman, or Representative (they mostly prefer Congressman/woman).
Senate members: Senator.
Stand-alone bills that are relevant to our mission are summarized by A New Policy on our Legislative Tracker. For the major “must-pass” bills that cover a lot of ground but include provisions relevant to our mission, A New Policy's Legislative Tracker identifies which section of the NDAA or NSRP sits in which chamber, listed under the name of the bill. Each section analysis also includes a bill identifier using the prefixes above; check the “H.R.” or “S.” and you will know which chamber the bill is in. To find out who your members are click this link.
Get Involved
For more on advocating effectively to Congress on U.S. policy towards Palestine and Israel, join A New Policy's advocacy program here to learn how to coordinate your efforts and make the most of your time.
