When House and Senate pass bills in different forms, differences are resolved in which committee?

• A. Conference committee
• B. Joint committee
• C. Rules Committee
• D. Steering committee

Answer: (D)

When the House and Senate pass bills in different forms, a conference committee is formed to resolve the differences. This temporary joint panel, made up of members from both chambers, negotiates a single, compromise version of the bill—the conference report. Both the House and the Senate must approve that report before it goes to the president. This mechanism exists specifically to reconcile bicameral disagreements. The other options don’t fit: a joint committee is usually a permanent body with broader duties, not the focused task of harmonizing two versions of a bill; the Rules Committee in the House sets methods and limits for debate rather than reconciling differences with the Senate; the steering committee isn’t a formal, official body used to resolve such legislative divergences.