In the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires passage by the Senate and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and is presented to the President for their approval or disapproval. Generally, there is no legal difference between a joint

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

and a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. Both must be passed, in exactly the same form, by both chambers of Congress, and signed by the President (or, re-passed in override of a presidential

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

; or, remain unsigned for ten days while Congress is in session) to become a law. Only joint resolutions may be used to propose amendments to the United States Constitution and these do not require the approval of the President. Laws enacted by joint resolutions are not distinguished from laws enacted by bills, except that they are designated as resolutions as opposed to

Acts of Congress An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws), or to the general public ( public laws). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both house ...

(see for example

War Powers Resolution The War Powers Resolution (also known as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 or the War Powers Act) () is a federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to a ...

). While either a bill or joint resolution can be used to create a law, the two generally have different purposes. Bills are generally used to add, repeal, or amend laws codified in the United States Code or '' Statutes at Large'', and provide policy and program authorizations. Regular annual appropriations are enacted through bills. Conversely, joint resolutions generally are vehicles for purposes such as the following: *Authorizing small appropriations *For

continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, ag ...

s, which extend appropriation levels adopted in a prior fiscal year, when one or more of the annual appropriations acts have been temporarily delayed from becoming law on time *Creating temporary commissions or other

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with '' a priori''.) C ...

bodies (e.g., the 9/11 Commission) *Creating temporary exceptions to existing law, such as joint resolutions providing a day other than January 6 for counting electoral votes or providing for a

Saxbe fix The Saxbe fix ( ), or salary rollback, is a mechanism by which the President of the United States, in appointing a current or former member of the United States Congress whose elected term has not yet expired, can avoid the restriction of the Uni ...

reducing the pay of an office so that a member of Congress may avoid the

Ineligibility Clause The Ineligibility Clause (sometimes also called the Emoluments Clause, or the Incompatibility Clause, or the Sinecure Clause) is a provision in Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution that makes each incumbent member o ...

*Declaring war *Terminating national emergency declarations *Amending the Constitution of the United States *Annexing sovereign nation-states

References

External links

{{United States Congress Legislative branch of the United States government Resolutions (law)

See also

References

External links