Can bills be changed after they are submitted

[Adamb87]

I was just wondering in a situation where the president writes a bill and gets a congressman to submit it can that congressman make changes to the bill before or after its submitted without the writer or presidents approval

 

[Granny]

It's not the role of the President (Executive Branch) to write Bills. It is the role of both Houses of Congress (Legislative Branch) to write Bills. Bills are generated in the House ("HB___") or the Senate ("SB___"). Changes are made as the Bill passes back and forth between the two. Either way the final draft must be approved, voted on and passed by both Houses before it becomes law. It is the role of the US Supreme Court (Judicial Branch) to interpret the law. The Bill can be vetoed by the President ... but that veto can also be overturned by the Legislative Branch.

Things being as they are these days the whole system is FUBAR. While there have been Presidents who have used their power of Executive Order, it seems the Person in the White House currently likes to enact laws by Executive Order summarily on whim if he doesn't get his way. I may be wrong on this, but I think Executive Orders are supposed to be available for certain situations as opposed to being used for everything that comes down the pike. And the current US Supreme Court seems to like to legislate from the bench.

 

[Adamb87]

Thank you for your input. So in a nutshell any bill thats submitted bounces from side to side until its adjusted so all parties agree with it? If the president wants anything submitted he has to have someone in congress write and submit the bill then pray after all the burocatic ping pong that its remotely the same as when it was submitted

 

[Granny]

No. Let's take Obamacare for instance. That was one of Obama's big objectives. Obama didn't draft the Bill. Some Democrat in Congress picked up the torch and there was quite a bit of back and forth on that ... and we can see where that has gotten us. Gitmo - there's another one - let's see what the outcome of that gets us - maybe a fleet of Russian ships pulling into port and another Bay of Pigs? Unless, of course, our military completely destroys everything in sight and the whole place has to be rebuilt by the Russians.

 

[Adamb87]

Thank you and maybe you can help me with my next question ive been trying to get to the bottom of what the president can actually do i thought for a long time that he can write and submit bills now i know he can only veto a bill not submit he can issue executive orders without congresses approval and he can nominate not elect jugdes to the supreme court.......am i missing something because its seems like he cant do a damn thing beside issue eo's to federal branches

 

[Granny]

I'm not a Constitutional expert. One thing I did learn in high school Government class (but that has been decades ago) was that this country has three branches of government. It was established that way by the Founding Fathers as a measure of checks and balances - no one branch was to have total say-so over everything as, for instance, no single branch could call all the shots with no relief from anywhere. With the progression of time and tide politics, in general, has become a very dirty business. I've heard it said many times in my lifetime that one has to be dishonest in the first place to even go into politics. When I look at what we have today on all levels of government I think maybe that is very true.

I think you need to look at history ... in retrospect, I wish I had done better in high school, but my circumstances at the time were less than good so I did the best I could at the time. I'm a reader - I love books. Reading is the door to knowledge ... for instance, if one can't read and comprehend what they have read - how can one figure out how to do math? understand science? geography?

 

[Agit8r]

I was just wondering in a situation where the president writes a bill and gets a congressman to submit it can that congressman make changes to the bill before or after its submitted without the writer or presidents approval

Yes, It happens almost always.

 

[anotherlife]

I was just wondering in a situation where the president writes a bill and gets a congressman to submit it can that congressman make changes to the bill before or after its submitted without the writer or presidents approval

Yes it can. Moreover, several bills were signed in into law by presidents, without any congressional debate or even the president's knowledge. One of the more famous examples of this is Bush's IMBRA law, in which case some activist silently slipped the paperwork into the president's signature tray and got automatically signed.

 

[Moonglow]

I was just wondering in a situation where the president writes a bill and gets a congressman to submit it can that congressman make changes to the bill before or after its submitted without the writer or presidents approval

Yes, they can be changed.......When in committee they are debated and researched. Many are changed at times..

 

[Granny]

The Constitution Is Clear: Presidents Don't Write Laws. Congress Does.
March 19, 2016 | Speaker Paul Ryan | http://spkrryan.us/1nX5XgW

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This week, the House of Representatives took an unprecedented step to defend our Constitution against this president’s gross abuse of executive power.
In response to the president’s executive amnesty, the House voted to authorize me to file an amicus brief on behalf of the House in the upcoming U.S. v. Texas Supreme Court case.
This is bigger than any one policy—this is about protecting our Article I powers. The Constitution is clear: Presidents don't write laws. Congress does.
This president’s pattern of executive overreach has strengthened a fourth branch of government—unelected bureaucrats—that operates with little to no transparency and undermines Congress.
As I argued on the House floor prior to this vote, we must defend the principles of self-determination, self-government, and government by consent of the governed. That’s why we are moving forward with legal action to return power to the American people.
Sincerely,





This is from an email from Speaker Ryan. This should settle who can write laws and who should not be writing laws.

 

[RandallFlagg]

I was just wondering in a situation where the president writes a bill and gets a congressman to submit it can that congressman make changes to the bill before or after its submitted without the writer or presidents approval

Yes, they can be changed.......When in committee they are debated and researched. Many are changed at times..

I sincerely doubt that there has EVER been a bill submitted to the president that WASN'T bastardized to death by both the House and the Senate to the point that the initial meaning of the bill is lost in all the amendments and "add ons". Every person who looks briefly adds their own bullshit (for example a Bridge over a highway in Phoenix) or perhaps a new way to spend more money on some other dumbass project, that had/has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the original bill.

 

[saveliberty]

Thank you and maybe you can help me with my next question ive been trying to get to the bottom of what the president can actually do i thought for a long time that he can write and submit bills now i know he can only veto a bill not submit he can issue executive orders without congresses approval and he can nominate not elect jugdes to the supreme court.......am i missing something because its seems like he cant do a damn thing beside issue eo's to federal branches

Executive orders have limits, the President is not suppose to create new law with an executive order. The orders are actually meant for bureaucratic folks, because that is who the president has under his control.

 

[mak5]

Thank you and maybe you can help me with my next question ive been trying to get to the bottom of what the president can actually do i thought for a long time that he can write and submit bills now i know he can only veto a bill not submit he can issue executive orders without congresses approval and he can nominate not elect jugdes to the supreme court.......am i missing something because its seems like he cant do a damn thing beside issue eo's to federal branches

Constitutionally, that is it. We have gotten away from that and have Presidents doing Congress' job. It is Congress that is supposed to set the agenda and propose all legislation, however, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and all Presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have turned the system on its head.