The Making of Federal Law

I don't know what you mean by "in almost all cases." Commonly, the text of a House bill and a Senate bill do not agree, word for word. Sometimes this is resolved by members of each house meeting quietly in camera; but yes, a conference committee is often convened to resolve such matters, which are often just a matter of the wording of the text. Of greater consequence are riders--amendments to bills which are added at the last minute, often in the hope that both houses will pass the bill and the rider or riders just to get it done with.

You're begging your own question--it doesn't become Federal law unless both houses approve it by a roll-call vote, and it is signed by the president. In the event that the president vetoes it, or ignores it (called a pocket veto), then it would require a two-thirds vote by both houses to make it law.

Setanta-

Thank you.

I was thinking about the tax bill just passed by the House and the Senate. It is being spoken of as a foregone conclusion that it will become law.

I was wondering if that it almost always the case.

In the event that ignores it (called a pocket veto), I think it would become law without his signature if the Congress remains in session for 10 days from the date it was sent to him (Article 1, Section 7).

These people know how the system works, and how to game it. Congress will soon end this session, and will not return until January 3rd. But that doesn't really matter--even an idiot like Plump has sense enough to sign this as soon as it hits his desk. He is a member of that class of wealthy people for whom the bulk of their income does not come from capital gains (taxed at 15%) and he personally stands to gain a great deal from this tax bill.

Yes, by the way, hammering out legislation through conference committees is pretty standard procedure. As I pointed out, sometimes members of both houses meet in camera (informally, behind closed doors) rather than resort to a conference committee, when the two texts of the proposed legislation are sufficiently similar.