At 1:36 AM on Saturday, December 2, the Senate passed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a vote of 51-49.
With this vote, the tax bill is at about the halfway mark to becoming law. Here's what's ahead:
The House and Senate must go to conference and produce a joint conference report.
Conference committees are set up when the House and Senate have passed two different versions of a bill. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution requires that both chambers pass the exact same language before a bill can be presented for the President’s signature and become law.
How does a Conference work?
- The House and Senate appointed conferees to negotiate the combined version (a conference report.)
- A majority of House conferees and a majority of Senate conferees must sign the conference report.
How does Congress vote on conference reports?
- Both the House and Senate must vote on the same version of the conference report.
- According to chamber rules, the Conference report must be publicly available before a vote — 48 hours in the Senate, 3 days in the House.
- In the Senate, filibuster rules apply (so 60 votes are needed to “end debate” and proceed to a vote.)
- In the House, the conference report gets one hour of debate, and then a vote.
- Conference reports can’t be amended and get an “up or down vote.”
(As with everything in Congress, there are exceptions. For more information, see “Conference Committee and Related Procedures: An Introduction” from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.)
What's next?
House votes December 4 on a motion to go to conference and appointing Republican conferees. They will also vote on Democratic-sponsored "Motion to Instruct Conferees."
Senate will vote on similar motions in coming days.
Tell Congress what you think:
See what other sare saying and write a message to your lawmakers on H.R. 1 with POPVOX.
