pass a bill under the hammer
v. phr.— «Thousands of bills were considered during the legislative session and 466 roll call votes were taken. The vast majority of bills are voted unanimously to either pass or fail out of committee and the House of Representatives usually honors the wishes of the committee with a unanimous vote on the floor that is not recorded. This process is called passing a bill “under the hammer.”» —“Rep. Giles voted 100 percent of time” by Beth Staples in Augusta Village Soup (Maine) May 21, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The so-called “lifestyle influencer accent” you hear in videos on TikTok and YouTube, where someone speaks with rising tones at the end of sentences and phrases, suggesting that they’re about to say something important, is a form of what linguists...
Ron in Gloverville, South Carolina, wonders about the phrase since hatchet was hammer, which some use to mean “for a long period of time,” as in My family has lived here since hatchet was hammer. Another phrase he’s heard indicating the same thing...