Legislation · 118th Congress · Nov 15, 2024

Where the 118th Congress’s bills stood at month 22

119th118th
BillsBills + resolutions
Every bill ↓

How far 15,767 bills had gotten

At month 22 · Nov 15, 2024

In committee 14,454 92%
Sent to committee, never taken up13,529 86%Discussed in committee, not voted out925 6%Approved by committee558 4%Passed the House or Senate621 4%Passed the House and Senate16 <1%Vetoed12 <1%Became law106 <1%13 ceremonial

13 of 106 were ceremonial (post-office namings, coins, designations).

92% of the 118th Congress’s bills had not left committee at month 22. 1 in 149 had become law.

Excludes resolutions; includes ceremonial bills. House and Senate companions count once each. Congress.gov via GovInfo · to Nov 15, 2024 How we count stages How we classify bills

Shortcuts and dead ends

How endings are recorded

Endings

23Failed floor votevoted down in the House or Senate
12Vetoedby the President
12Veto upheldof the 12 vetoed
0Committee recommended against ita committee reported it unfavorably

Routes around committee

206Skipped committeeof the 755 that passed at least one chamber, with no committee report
44forced out of committee, by petition or Senate rule12 by petition or motion, 32 by Senate Rule XIV

Veto upheld is part of vetoed. A count of 0 has no list to open. Skipped committee usually means suspension of the rules or unanimous consent; discharge is by House petition or Senate Rule XIV.

How far bills get, by lobbying

Each group by stage reached · colors as in the bar above

No lobbying on file8,873 bills · 6% past committee
1 to 4 organizations lobbied5,796 bills · 8% past committee
5 or more organizations lobbied991 bills · 20% past committee

Bills that 5 or more organizations lobbied on got past committee about three times as often as bills with no lobbying on file.

Counts organizations that reported lobbying on a bill, once each, from filings made before the bill left committee. Only organizations with a PAC on file are counted (about 2,200), so universities, hospitals, local governments and most nonprofits are left out and “no lobbying on file” can include bills others lobbied on. Set aside: 107 must-pass bills (spending, defense, stopgap, budget) and the handful of bills lobbied by more organizations than almost any other (12 became law).

Lobbying disclosure filings public by that date · 118th at month 22 Method

How long they take

median days10th–90th

Introduced → approved by committee126 days
14,454 not yet approved by committee
Approved by committee → passed a chamber13 days
558 not yet passed a chamber
Passed one → passed both82 days
621 not yet passed the other chamber
Passed both → became law9 days
16 awaiting the President
06 mo1 yrCongress ends

Half of the bills a committee approved got there within 126 days.

Medians use only bills that made the step.

Action dates · 118th at month 22 Method

How long they are

Words (each step is 10 times longer) · bills per bar

median 533
2001k10k100k1M
ShortestH.R. 899To terminate the Department of Education.17 words
LongestH.R. 2670National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024391,735 words

The median bill is 533 words; 7 are over 200,000.

Latest text version on file, which can be newer than this point in the Congress. 14 without text are left out; under 500 words is the first bar.

GovInfo bill text, latest version · 118th at month 22 Method

Every bill

558 bills · latest action first

Stage: Approved by committeeClear all
BillTitleSponsorIntroducedTypeStageWordsCosponsorsLobbied by
H.R. 1335TAPP American Resources ActRBruce Westerman ARMar 3, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee20k words220
S. 277Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act of 2023DAlex Padilla CAFeb 7, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee361 words00
H.R. 1152Water Quality Certification and Energy Project Improvement Act of 2023RDavid Rouzer NCFeb 24, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee703 words28
S. 509Supporting Americans Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act of 2023DRobert Menendez NJFeb 16, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee800 words30
S. 113Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023RChuck Grassley IAJan 26, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee1.2k words1826
S. 142Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars ActDAmy Klobuchar MNJan 30, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee7.3k words819
S. 148Stop STALLING ActDAmy Klobuchar MNJan 30, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee1.9k words615
S. 79Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023DRichard J. Durbin ILJan 25, 2023SubstantiveApproved by committee1.4k words312

Congress.gov bill status · 118th at month 22 · 25 bills a page · cosponsors and word counts are the latest on file