A House staffer (very much “in the know,” as they say) sends this email on the sausage-making appeal of the legislative process, and just how small-minded the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest deliberative body” can be:
Want to know how petty the Senate is? In order for a bill to go to the President, a bill must be passed in identical form by both Houses, including the bill number. In this case, the House passed the terrorist tribunal bill with a House number on Wednesday. The Senate passed the identical text yesterday, but refused to pass the text w/ the House bill number. Instead, the Senate passed the same terrorist tribunal text with a Senate number and sent it back to the House. Why would it do this? Because the Senate wants the version with the Senate bill number signed into law. So today, you’ll watch House Members debate the same text as the bill they passed on Wednesday, only this time it will have that gold-plated Senate bill number.