Government Glossary

Concurrent Resolution

Short Definition

A form of legislative measure used for the regulation of business within both chambers of Congress, not for proposing.

Long Explanation

A form of legislative measure used for the regulation of business within both chambers of Congress, not for proposing changes in law. Depending on the chamber of origin, they begin with a designation of either H.Con.Res. or S.Con.Res. Joint resolutions and simple resolutions are other types of resolutions.

In practice, Concurrent Resolution is useful because it helps a visitor connect a word or phrase to law making, committee work, oversight, votes, or congressional records. When you see the term in an official source, ask which office has authority, what decision is being made, which deadline or rule matters, and where the public record can be checked.

Examples

Simple exampleA visitor sees “Concurrent Resolution” while reading about a bill and uses Congress.gov or a committee page to find the official record.

Civic exampleA citizen trying to follow lawmaking checks the bill text, committee action, vote record, and chamber rules before relying on a summary.

Common Misconception

A common mistake is treating Concurrent Resolution as a complete explanation of what Congress did. The term is usually a starting point. To know what happened, check the bill text, committee action, chamber record, and vote information where available.

Related Terms

CongressLegislationLegislative BranchLegislative Process

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