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443 of 13,556 bills became law
Compromise comes first
Unless one party holds the presidency, the House, and enough Senate seats to beat a filibuster, there has to be compromise, and tons of it, before the process even begins.
Cosponsors
That starts with cosponsors. A member who has written a bill gathers other members to add their names before introducing it, a signal that the bill has lots of support. A bill in the House can have a few cosponsors or hundreds, and hundreds make it many times more likely to become law. Cosponsors are just adding their names, and they might not have even read it.
The Senate hurdle
The Senate adds its own hurdle. Ending a filibuster takes 60 votes, so a bill needs at least some bipartisan buy-in. Over the last several decades, party leaders have also taken power away from committees, which increasingly carry out changes the majority has already agreed on.
Why do so few bills become law?
Many bills are introduced to signal a position, please constituents, or set up a later version. Several bills on the same subject often compete, and only one can move. Provisions from many bills are also folded into larger packages, so a bill's ideas can become law without the bill itself passing. The annual defense authorization is a typical vehicle, carrying hundreds of provisions that began as separate bills.
How did party leaders take power from committees?
When Republicans won the House in 1995, they set six-year term limits for committee chairs and chose several chairs over more senior members. That shifted influence to the Speaker. Since then, leaders of both parties have often written major bills in their own offices and brought them straight to the floor. The same 1995 reforms eliminated three House committees and cut committee staff by about a third.
Why do members cosponsor bills they haven't read?
Cosponsoring is a cheap public signal. It tells constituents and interest groups where a member stands, and it builds goodwill with the colleague who asked. Members can add their names after a bill is introduced as well as before. The list of cosponsors for every bill is public on Congress.gov.
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