A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjournment, but also for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election. In current practice, any meeting of Congress after election day, but before the next Congress convenes the following January, is a lame-duck session. Prior to 1933, when the 20th Amendment changed the dates of the congressional term, the last regular session of Congress was always a lame-duck session.
Congress has held 16 lame-duck sessions since 1940. Recesses preceding lame-duck sessions have usually begun by mid-October and typically lasted between one and two months. Congress typically reconvened in mid-November and adjourned before Christmas, so that the lame-duck session lasted about a month. Some recesses, however, have begun as early as August 7 or as late as November 3 and ended as early as November 8 or as late as December 31. Lame-duck sessions have ended as early as November 22 and as late as January 3 and have extended over as few as one and as many as 145 calendar days.
Some lame-duck sessions have been held largely for pro forma reasons (e.g., 1948), on a standby basis (e.g., 1940, 1942), or to deal with a single specific matter (e.g., 1954, 1994, 1998). Some sessions, as well, have deferred major matters to the succeeding Congress (e.g., 1944, 1982, 2004), especially when a stronger majority for the same party was in prospect. Most, however, could be regarded as at least moderately productive. When the President has presented an extensive agenda to a lame-duck session controlled by his own party, it has often approved many of his recommendations (e.g., 1950, 2002, 2004), but when he has done so under conditions of divided government, he has had less success and has often vetoed measures (e.g., 1970, 1974, 1982). Additionally, a major task of most lame-duck sessions in recent years has been to complete action on appropriations and the budget. In 1974, 1980, 1982, 2000, 2004, and 2012, this effort was at least somewhat successful, but in 1970 and 2002, a final resolution was largely left to the following Congress.
Lame-duck sessions do not usually occur in countries under a parliamentary form of government, whether the Westminster system or other models. Under a parliamentary system there are usually no fixed dates for elections or the beginning of terms, so that a new session of parliament will always begin with its first meeting after an election has been held. Often the previous parliament is dissolved by the head of state at the request of the head of government, therefore even in an emergency there is no parliament to call after the final session until the new parliament has been elected. In contrast to members of Congress who do wield their full authority until their term ends, the power of outgoing parliamentarians is limited by convention; any cabinet ministers that were members of the now dissolved parliament will serve in an "acting" or "caretaker" capacity (i.e. not being able to make important appointments nor policy declarations) until the new parliament convenes.
What makes a lame-duck session A "lame duck" session of Congress is one that takes place after the election for the next Congress has been held, but before the current Congress has reached the end of its constitutional term. Under contemporary conditions, any meeting of Congress that occurs between a congressional election in November and the following January 3 is a lame duck session. The significant characteristic of a lame duck session is that its participants are the sitting Members of the existing Congress, not those who will be entitled to sit in the new Congress.
A lame-duck session can occur in several ways: In practice, Congress has usually provided for its existing session to resume after a recess spanning the election. (In 1954, only the Senate returned in this way, while the House adjourned sine die.) In 1940, 1942, and 2002, Congress continued meeting, sometimes in pro forma sessions every third day, until well after the election. Congress can reconvene after an election pursuant to contingent authority granted to the leadership in a recess or adjournment resolution (in 1998, the House alone followed this course).
Two other possibilities have not been realized: Congress could set a statutory date for a new session to convene after the election, then adjourn its existing session sine die. While Congress is in recess or sine die adjournment, the President could call it into extraordinary session at a date after the election.
Meaning of "lame duck"
The expression "lame duck" originally applied in 18th century Britain to bankrupt businessmen, who were considered as "lame" in the sense that the impairment of their powers rendered them vulnerable, like a game bird injured by shot. By the 1830s, the usage had been extended to officeholders whose service already had a known termination date. In current American usage, for instance, a President is considered a "lame duck" not only if he has been defeated for re-election or after his successor has been elected, but also whenever he cannot be or is known not to be a candidate for reelection.
Members of Congress in similar circumstances are also considered lame ducks. The expression may accordingly be applied to Members who are known not to be seeking re-election as well as to those who have been defeated. In particular, however, after an election of Congress, all the Members who did not gain re-election can be described as lame ducks until the term of the new Congress starts. When the previously sitting Congress, which includes these Members, meets in a post-election session, this session is called a lame-duck session as well.See Raymond W. Smock, "Lame Duck Session," in Donald C. Bacon, Roger H. Davidson, and Morton Keller, eds., The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress (New York: Simon & Schuster, (c) 1995), vol. 3, pp. 1244–1245.
Lame-duck sessions in the modern Congress The possibility of a lame-duck session of Congress in the modern sense began in 1935 when the 20th Amendment to the Constitution took effect. Under this amendment, ratified in 1933, Congress meets in a regular session on January 3 of each year, unless in the previous session it passes a law changing the date. Also, the terms of Members begin and end on January 3 of odd-numbered years. Under these arrangements, any meeting of Congress after election day (in November of even-numbered years) but before the following January 3 is a lame-duck session.
This report examines only the specific lame-duck sessions that have occurred since 1935, not those that occurred routinely before this date, as explained in the following section.
Lame-duck sessions before the 20th Amendment The Constitution originally provided that the regular sessions of Congress begin annually on the first Monday in December. In the process of initiating the government under the Constitution, it was established that the term of Congress would begin and end on March 4 of odd-numbered years.See Johnny H. Killian, George A. Costello, and Kenneth R. Thomas, eds., The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, prepared by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress (Washington: GPO, 2004), p. 2089 [commentary on the 20th Amendment]. Today, however, congressional elections are generally held in November of even-numbered years.
The result was that after being elected in (an even-numbered) November, a new Congress did not begin its term until the following (odd-numbered) March, and was not required to convene until the following December, 13 months after it was first elected.In practice, a new Congress was sometimes first convened in an extra session that began closer to the start of its constitutional term. As described in following sections, this extra session could occur pursuant to either a presidential call or a law passed by the previous Congress. This first December session of Congress typically continued until sometime in the summer of the following (even-numbered) year. The Congress would then adjourn until the time for the next regular session prescribed by the Constitution, the following (even-numbered) December.
When Congress reconvened at that time, however, the next Congress would already have been elected, in the intervening (even-numbered) November. The term of that newly elected Congress, on the other hand, would not begin until the following March. The Congress that convened in an even-numbered December, accordingly, could not be the newly elected one, but could only be the one already sitting. Under these arrangements, as a result, the last session of every Congress was always a lame duck session.This session, beginning in the even-numbered December, could last only last until the term of the sitting Congress expired early in the following March, when the new Congress came into office. For this reason, it was colloquially known as the "short session." One purpose of the 20th Amendment was to change these arrangements that routinely required every Congress to hold its last session as a lame duck session.See P. Orman Ray, "Lame-Duck Amendment," in Stanley I. Kutler, ed., Dictionary of American History, 3d ed. (New York: Scribner, 2003), vol. 5, p. 24. For more information on the adoption of the 20th Amendment, see Alan P. Grimes, Democracy and the Amendments to the Constitution (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, D.C. Heath, (c) 1978), pp. 104–108.
How lame-duck sessions may occur Under the 20th Amendment, lame-duck sessions can still occur, but only as a result of specific actions undertaken either by the Congress already sitting or by the President. The specific actions through which a sitting Congress might reconvene after an election, but during the last portion of its own term of office, are of several kinds. The following sections describe these possible means of reconvening. Although some have been used rarely and others not at all, each method helps to illuminate the constitutional arrangements that make lame-duck sessions possible and the conditions in which they may operate.
The courses of action through which Congress might reconvene for a lame duck session include: pursuant to a previously enacted law prescribing an additional session of Congress following a recess within a session, but spanning the election under authority granted to the leadership at the time of a contingent adjournment or recess of the session by continuing to meet, perhaps in pro forma sessions, throughout the period spanning the election in response to a presidential proclamation calling an extraordinary session
Sine die adjournment and its effects Although the "lame-duck sessions" that have occurred before and after 1935 are both "lame duck" in the same sense, they are not "sessions" in the same sense. Formally, a session of Congress ends when Congress adjourns sine die. The Latin phrase, literally translated as "without day," is used to mean that Congress has adjourned without setting a day for its next meeting. An adjournment sine die, therefore, means that Congress is not scheduled to meet again until the day set by the Constitution (or by law) for its next session to convene. When Congress adjourns sine die in an election year, it is not scheduled to meet again until after the term of the new Congress begins. That meeting will, therefore, begin the first session of the new Congress.