by Sarah Tarver
News editor
Not much is getting done in Congress this year. According to GovTrack.us, a website that is dedicated to keeping track of everything going on in Congress, “The number of bills enacted this year is lower than it has ever been in at least 30 years… only 66 bills and joint resolutions were enacted this year. The last time the number was even close to this low was in 1995…Then, like now, the Congress and the Presidency were split between the parties.”
Article 1 Section 7 of the Constitution explains how a bill becomes a law. Each bill must be passed with a simple majority of Congress, or at least 51 percent within each house, at which point it is sent to the president for review.
If the president approves, then it is signed. If not then the bill is returned to whichever house it originated in to be revised and reconsidered.
According to the Constitution, “If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law.”
Initial votes only require a simple majority, which means more than 50 percent or 221 ayes in the House and 51 ayes in the Senate. If the bill is returned for revisions, a two-thirds majority, or at least 294 ayes in the House and at least 66 ayes in the Senate, is required.
The division of power in Congress is currently split so the Republicans have a majority with 54 percent overall. However, the Democrats do hold a simple majority within the Senate with 51 percent.
The Republican Party has control of the House, and the Democratic Party has control of the Senate. Everything must be approved in both houses before it can be sent to the president.
This becomes a problem if the parties become interested in vetoing the other instead of doing what would be in the best interest of the people. Unfortunately, this situation does arise.
There is a piece of legislation called the Due Process Guarantee Act which states, “To clarify that an authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and for other purposes,” that has been proposed in both houses of Congress.
According to Marcus Woodson, a representative of California Rep. John Garamendi (D), supporters fear that it will not make it because Democrats proposed it. Currently HR 3702, Due Process Guarantee Act in the House, has 61 co-sponsors, and only two of them are Republicans. In order to pass 26 Republicans will need to vote in favor of this bill, assuming that all Democrats also vote in favor of it. Since the Democrats do control the Senate, S 2003, Due Process Guarantee Act in the Senate, should pass; it even currently has 23 co-sponsors, four of which are Republicans.
Since it must pass both houses before it is sent to the President, unless some Republicans are willing to cross that invisible party line to support it, it will not pass in the House and has no hope of becoming a law.