Law Stack Exchange
Law Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [congress]

Questions about the U.S. Congress – the federal legislative body consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate (also [us-senate]).

94 questions
45
votes
3 answers

If Congress passed a bill written in a language other than English, would it be valid?

Suppose Congress passed a bill written in Spanish and the President signed it. Everything about the bill and the procedures by which it was written and passed were completely normal, other than the language. (Assume everyone in Congress, as well as…
Someone
  • 17,523
  • 13
  • 96
  • 197
38
votes
3 answers

Was it illegal for Nancy Pelosi to tear up her copy of the State of the Union address?

President Trump has claimed it was illegal for Nancy Pelosi to tear up her copy of his State of the Union address, as it was an official document. Is there any law stating that it is illegal to tear up official documents, and does this qualify under…
Sdarb
  • 513
  • 1
  • 5
  • 8
33
votes
8 answers

Can bills (the documents of laws/legislation) have pictures? Or text only? Can images become part of the legal code?

Asking out of plain curiosity. I tried googling, but just couldn't find a combination of keywords that didn't bring up irrelevant results. Laws become law when the congress approves of a "bill" - a document that dictates and explains the terms of…
Hemsy19
  • 809
  • 1
  • 8
  • 13
21
votes
6 answers

Are legislators ever asked to explain their intent in Supreme Court cases?

I recently started to listen to recordings of arguments before the Supreme Court. I am not a lawyer so I don't completely follow everything, but I noticed right away that a lot of arguments deal with the intent of this or that law. Given that this…
guero64
  • 571
  • 4
  • 13
20
votes
4 answers

Can Congress pass a law that sets an incarcerated person free?

Imagine John Doe is incarcerated for a crime after exhausting all his appeals. Congress approves a bill, which is then signed into law, that, among a myriad of other things, sets John free. Has this ever happened?: Is this possible (i.e. within the…
Mindwin Remember Monica
  • 2,643
  • 1
  • 17
  • 24
20
votes
7 answers

What happens when Congress violates the Constitution through inaction?

The Constitution sets down rules for how Congress can operate, and what it may, may not, or must do. If a President does not do something the Constitution requires them to do, they can be impeached and replaced until someone who will do the thing…
interfect
  • 5,497
  • 30
  • 53
18
votes
2 answers

I am a US citizen but have never lived in the US. Who is my Congress member?

This seemed like the most appropriate SE site to ask this question. If you can think of anywhere better please feel free to migrate it there. I was born outside the United States to American parents, and am therefore a US citizen (social security…
H.Rappeport
  • 299
  • 2
  • 4
12
votes
1 answer

How can the US House of Representatives transition to be elected by proportional representation? Would editing "PL 2 USC 2c" work?

Here is context for my question: I am a student studying political science. I am researching policy that could be used to dismantle the stranglehold that the Democratic and Republican parties have on American elections. In some ways it seems that…
Julian Cooper
  • 123
  • 6
12
votes
2 answers

What happens if Congress declares war, but POTUS refuses to fight it?

By Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the US Constitution, the power to declare war is with the Congress. Today (03/20/17), during a committee hearing, Ms. Speier, accused Russia (I assume she meant the Russian Federation) of having committed an act…
grovkin
  • 2,654
  • 2
  • 20
  • 41
12
votes
2 answers

Are the ballots in the American Congress anonymous?

I was reading the history of the 13th Amendment. After creating the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln realized that he would need to amend the Constitution to truly end slavery. His attempts to change the Constitution were ultimately…
Neil Meyer
  • 7,825
  • 1
  • 37
  • 81
12
votes
4 answers

Once a congressional bill has become law, how is it noticed by and overseen within the executive branch?

Bills, once they become laws, seem to be archived and internally published somehow. I wonder how the executive branch picks up on and implements them when/after this happens. Someone, somewhere in the federal executive departments and agencies must…
2080
  • 303
  • 2
  • 5
11
votes
1 answer

How much influence do the below 3 SCOTUS precedents have for Trump voiding birthright citizenship?

President Elect Trump has said he wanted to void birthright citizenship as a means to curb illegal immigration to the USA. The 14th amendment of the Constitution guarantees that "all people born in the US and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are…
Anthony
  • 535
  • 3
  • 12
10
votes
4 answers

Could one house of Congress completely shut down the other house by passing a large number of frivolous bills?

Suppose that for some reason, the House of Representatives wants to stop the Senate from doing anything. Could they accomplish that by passing hundreds of frivolous bills, so the Senate would be stuck wasting time voting on those bills? Of course,…
Someone
  • 17,523
  • 13
  • 96
  • 197
10
votes
2 answers

Are state legislatures allowed to enforce term limits on congress people and senators?

Are states generally free to decide on term caps concerning the election of senators and members of Congress? If a state wants to enforce a four term cap on congress people, for instance, is that law simply one amendment of a state constitution…
Neil Meyer
  • 7,825
  • 1
  • 37
  • 81
9
votes
4 answers

Durability of Federal legislation protecting abortion rights in US

Recently the Supreme Court of the United States, through Dobbs, has restored the right of States to prohibit abortion. Supporters of reproductive freedoms have since renewed calls upon Congress to enshrine these freedoms in federal…
brainchild
  • 209
  • 1
  • 5
1
2 3 4 5 6 7