Legislation · 118th Congress · Nov 10, 2024

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

119th118th
BillsBills + resolutions
Every bill ↓

How far 15,674 bills had gotten

At month 22 · Nov 10, 2024

In committee 14,384 92%
Sent to committee, never taken up13,441 86%Discussed in committee, not voted out943 6%Approved by committee547 3%Passed the House or Senate618 4%Passed the House and Senate7 <1%Vetoed12 <1%Became law106 <1%12 ceremonial

12 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 148 had become law.

Excludes resolutions; includes ceremonial bills. House and Senate companions count once each. Congress.gov via GovInfo · to Nov 10, 2024 How we count stages How we classify bills

Shortcuts and dead ends

How endings are recorded

Endings

21Failed 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

200Skipped committeeof the 743 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 file9,201 bills · 7% past committee
1 to 4 organizations lobbied5,540 bills · 8% past committee
5 or more organizations lobbied827 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: 106 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 committee125 days
14,384 not yet approved by committee
Approved by committee → passed a chamber13 days
547 not yet passed a chamber
Passed one → passed both81 days
618 not yet passed the other chamber
Passed both → became law9 days
7 awaiting the President
06 mo1 yrCongress ends

Half of the bills a committee approved got there within 125 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 530
2001k10k100k1M
ShortestH.R. 899To terminate the Department of Education.17 words
LongestH.R. 9161Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2024266,084 words

The median bill is 530 words; 3 are over 200,000.

Latest text version on file, which can be newer than this point in the Congress. 113 without text are left out; under 500 words is the first bar.

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

Every bill

0 bills · latest action first

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