The U.S. Senate approved, for the second time, a bill to overhaul the food safety system in the U.S. by expanding the powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Late Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid struck a deal with both Republicans and House leaders, dodging a filibuster and allowing the bill to pass through a parliamentary maneuver. The bill was approved by voice vote.

The Senate had already passed a food safety bill on Nov. 30 in a 73-25 vote. But after the bill was passed, House leaders objected, saying that because the bill contained a fee-collection provision for the FDA, the bill was tantamount to a tax bill. Under the constitution, revenue bills must originate in the House. Although the House had passed food safety legislation in 2009, the bills were different enough to run afoul of the House’s bureaucracy. (By the way, Congress tends to interpret the constitution too strictly in this regard, according to something called the United States Supreme Court.)

Both the House and the Senate considered attaching the food safety bill to must-pass appropriations bills, but that strategy didn’t pan out. Instead, Reid came up with a solution: take a bill that the House already passed, erase all the old text, and replace it with the food safety bill. For reasons that aren’t clear (but probably don’t matter) Reid chose H.R. 2751, the original Cash for Clunkers legislation that passed the House in June 2009 but went unused in the Senate, which instead chose to attach the policy to other legislation.

So, to recap, the Senate can’t pass a revenue bill with generally the same scope and purpose as a revenue bill already passed by the House, if the Senate bill has a different name and number; but the Senate can pass a revenue bill if it uses the same bill number as a completely unrelated bill, even if it changes all the language and the bill’s title.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is how the supposed best and brightest political minds in the country actually accomplish things.

Of course, the important thing is that the Senate passed a food safety bill. The House is expected to take up H.R. 2751 this week (the House has to vote on it again, of course, because the language is different). The bill should sail smoothly through the House, onto President Obama’s desk, and into law.