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Mission 1: Got an Idea?
Every law starts as an idea. You'll write your own bill and push it all the way to the President. Watch the tracker up top.
AThe odds
10,000+
bills are introduced in each term of Congress. Only a few hundred become laws.
That's about 3 out of every 100 (the gold ones).
BWho can introduce a bill?
Anyone can have an idea. But can they introduce the bill in Congress?
Ideas come from everywhere: citizens, the White House, and special-interest groups. But only senators and representatives can introduce a bill.
CWrite your bill
1. Pick an idea for a law
2. Get a sponsor in Congress
3. Introduce it
In the House, a new bill is dropped into a wooden box called the hopper. In the Senate, it's handed to the clerk.
Mission 2: Committee Room
Your bill goes to a committee. The chairperson decides which bills get studied and which get ignored.
APublic hearing: tap each witness
Experts and citizens can share their opinions about a bill.
BYou're the chair: what happened to this bill?
!When a committee is against a bill, it almost never becomes a law. Committees are where most bills die.
CCrossroads: IF the chair says no…
Tap every IF to see what happens THEN. Each path unlocks a real case file.
DMark up your bill
The committee likes your bill, but wants one change first. Pick the change you'll accept.
Mission 3: Floor Debate
Your bill made it out of committee! Now the whole chamber debates it. The House and Senate play by different rules.
AWhose rule is it?
BAmendment inspector
Members want to add amendments to your bill. Is each one relevant (about your bill) or a rider (totally unrelated)?
The House only accepts relevant amendments. The Senate allows riders, so sometimes an unrelated idea sneaks into law by riding on a popular bill.
CCrossroads: the deal
DLobby Day
Interest groups offer help, but they want something back. Take the deal or say no. Every choice moves your Senate support, and you'll need it in Mission 5.
$4.4Bwas spent lobbying the federal government in 2024, a record.
Senate support for your bill52
51: majority60: cloture
Mission 4: Time to Vote
Debate is over. Time to vote. A simple majority (more than half) passes a bill.
AWhich kind of vote is it?
BPass or fail?
CCall the vote on your bill
Yea
0Nay
0
Passing one house is only halfway. The bill now goes to the other chamber, and steps 1 to 4 start all over again: introduced, committee, debate, vote. If either house says no, the bill dies.
DCrossroads: the other chamber
Mission 5: Senate Showdown
Your bill reaches the Senate floor. One senator starts a filibuster: talking and talking so your bill never gets a vote.
Hour 1
Senators can speak as long as they like, and they don't even have to stay on topic.
ACrossroads: stop the filibuster
Cloture needs 3/5 of the Senate: 60 of 100. Tap gray senators to win them over.
52 / 60
BConference committee
Both houses passed your bill, but their versions don't match. Both houses must pass an identical bill. Pick one version for each difference.
Why did you have to do that?
Mission 6: The President's Desk
Your bill passed both houses! The President has 10 days to act. Try every path.
ADesk simulator: find all 4 outcomes
The President decides to…
During those 10 days, Congress is…
Pick what the President does.
BReal veto fights: does Congress win?
An override needs 2/3 of those voting in BOTH houses. Quick trick: the yes votes must be at least double the no votes.
CYour bill's big moment
A real bill: H.R. 6201
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act paid for free COVID testing and paid sick leave in 2020.
March 11, 2020Introduced in the House by Rep. Nita Lowey (NY)
March 14, 2020Passed the House, 363 to 40
March 18, 2020Passed the Senate, 90 to 8
March 18, 2020Signed into law by the President
How many days did it take to become law?
Mission 7: The IF/THEN Map
Making a law is a chain of IF → THEN decisions. Choose what happens THEN for each IF.
Mission 8: Exit Ticket
Put the 7 steps in order. Then answer each question.
1. Tap the steps in order, 1 to 7. Tap a filled step to send it back.
7. Finish the sentence:
Most bills never become law. A bill can be pigeonholed in
,
talked to death by a ,
or by the President.