I’m Just a Bill, Yes, I’m Only a Bill: The Constitutional Way to Make Laws
Anna Leutheuser /
Under the Progressive notion of a “living” Constitution, almost every aspect of the Constitution has been subject to reinterpretation. One section that would seem to defy a new interpretation, however, is Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 – or the “Presentment Clause” – which clearly outlines the process by which a bill becomes a law.
As Michael Rappaport explains in the latest Constitutional Guidance for Lawmakers essay, “The Presentment Clause ultimately drafted by the Convention was one of the most formal provisions in the Constitution. The Framers apparently feared that factions would attempt to depart from the constitutional method for passing laws and therefore they spelled out that method in one of the document’s longest provisions.” (more…)