If you’ve noticed that the legislative deadlines of the House and Senate don’t line up, there’s a simple reason: the two chambers use different committee structures.
Before a bill can be voted on by the full House or full Senate, it must first pass through a committee. In the House, most bills are heard in a Policy Committee and then must go through an additional step, an Oversight Committee, before they can be considered by the full House. Because of this extra committee layer, the House must set its Policy Committee deadline earlier in the session. Each policy bill must have enough time to move through both the Policy and Oversight Committees before reaching the full chamber for a vote.
In the Senate, bills usually move from a policy committee directly to the full Senate for consideration (unless they are assigned to Appropriations). Since there is no separate oversight committee step, the Senate committee deadline can happen later.
Even though the paths are different, both the House and Senate share the same March deadline for floor votes on bills in their chamber of origin. Here’s how the key dates compare:
| Deadlines | House | Senate |
|---|---|---|
|
Policy Committee Deadline |
February 19, 2026 |
March 5, 2026 |
|
Oversight Committee Deadline |
March 5, 2026 |
Not Applicable |
|
Floor Vote Deadline (Chamber of Origin) |
March 26, 2026 |
March 26, 2026 |
In short, the House starts its committee process earlier because it has one more step. The Senate’s process is slightly shorter, so its early deadlines come later — but both chambers must complete final votes on their own bills by March 26.