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Act of Congress
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An act of Congress (or Act of Congress) is a statute enacted by the United States government.
Signature by the President of the United States, Inaction by the President after ten days from reception (excluding Sundays) while the Congress is in session, or Reconsideration by the Congress after a presidential veto during its session.
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Encyclopedia
An act of Congress (or Act of Congress) is a statute enacted by the United States government.
Paths to promulgation (enactment)
An act adopted by simple majorities in both houses of Congress must meet one of the following conditions to become law:
- Signature by the President of the United States,
- Inaction by the President after ten days from reception (excluding Sundays) while the Congress is in session, or
- Reconsideration by the Congress after a presidential veto during its session. (A bill must receive a 2/3 majority vote in both houses to override a president's veto).
The President promulgates acts of Congress made by the first two methods. If an act is made by the third method, the presiding officer of the house that last reconsidered the act promulgates it.
Under the United States Constitution, if the President does not return a bill or resolution to Congress with objections before the time limit expires, then the bill automatically becomes an act; however, if the Congress is adjourned at the end of this period, then the bill dies and cannot be reconsidered (see pocket veto). In addition, if the President rejects a bill or resolution while the Congress is in session, a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Congress is needed for reconsideration to be successful.
An act of Congress that violates the Constitution may be declared unconstitutional by the courts. The judicial declaration of an act's unconstitutionality does not remove the law from the statute books; rather, it prevents the law from being enforced. However, future publications of the act are generally annotated with warnings indicating that the statute is no longer good law.
Public law
Acts of Congress are designated as either "public laws", relating to the general public, or "private laws", relating to specific institutions or individuals. Since 1957, all acts of Congress have been designated as "Public Law X-Y" or "Private Law X-Y", where X is the number of the Congress and Y is a number sequentially assigned to each act.
Other uses
- An act of Congress can also refer to acts by legislative bodies called Congress elsewhere around the world like in the Philippines.
- Sometimes used in informal speech, to indicate something for which getting permission is burdensome. As in "It takes an act of Congress to get a building permit in this town."
See also
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