You traced how a bill becomes a law in Civics and Government. Article I, Section 7 makes that process a requirement: every bill must pass both houses (bicameralism) and be presented to the President to sign or veto (presentment). Two famous cases show what happens when Congress tries a shortcut.
Why it works
Key idea
Worked example: Is it "legislative"?
- (a) A simple resolution with no legal effect on anyone's rights: no.
- (b) The Constitution expressly gives the Senate alone the power to confirm: no (Chadha listed such exceptions).
- (c) Changing legal rights and duties by one house alone: yes, so it is invalid as a one-house act.
Answer: Only (c). Congress can still overturn rules by passing a joint resolution through both houses and presenting it to the President, as the Congressional Review Act provides.
Worked example: Clinton's cancellations and the veto
- A veto happens before a bill becomes law; Congress can override it by two-thirds of each house.
- A cancellation happened after the President signed the bill, changing a law already in force.
- Changing a law requires a new law passed through Article I, Section 7.
Answer: A veto rejects a whole bill before enactment; a cancellation amends an enacted law, which only Congress can do through the full process.
Common mistake
Related: in Bowsher v. Synar (1986), the Court held that Congress may not keep for itself the removal of an officer (the Comptroller General) who carries out the laws. Read Madison on the purposes of the two houses in Federalist No. 62 and Hamilton on the veto in Federalist No. 73.