{ "id": "R45154", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R45154", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2020 (74th-116th Congresses)", "retrieved": "2022-12-06T04:03:24.320629", "id": "R45154_11_2022-11-08", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2022-11-08_R45154_03bd39de2586f3613ce56e20fc6615d7072a4a8a.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45154/11", "sha1": "03bd39de2586f3613ce56e20fc6615d7072a4a8a" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2022-11-08_R45154_03bd39de2586f3613ce56e20fc6615d7072a4a8a.html" } ], "date": "2022-11-08", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45154", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2020 (74th-116th Congresses)", "retrieved": "2022-12-06T04:03:24.320095", "id": "R45154_10_2020-10-13", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2020-10-13_R45154_27573f9cba0d30b47177911b8d20330e7471485e.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45154/10", "sha1": "27573f9cba0d30b47177911b8d20330e7471485e" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2020-10-13_R45154_27573f9cba0d30b47177911b8d20330e7471485e.html" } ], "date": "2020-10-13", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45154", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 584820, "date": "2018-04-06", "retrieved": "2018-09-12T23:07:50.337262", "title": "Lame Duck Sessions of Congress, 1935-2016 (74th-114th Congresses)", "summary": "A \u201clame duck\u201d session of Congress occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected but before the end of its own constitutional term. Under present conditions, any meeting of Congress between election day in November and the following January 3 is a lame duck session. Prior to 1933, when the Twentieth Amendment changed the dates of the congressional term, the last regular session of Congress was always a lame duck session. Today, however, the expression is primarily used for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election. \nCongress has held 21 lame duck sessions since the implementation of the Twentieth Amendment. From the first modern lame duck session in 1941 to 1998, the sessions occurred sporadically. Beginning in 2000, both houses of Congress have held a lame duck session following every election. In this report, the data presentation is separate for the sporadic period (76th-105th Congresses) and the consistent period (106th-present) in order to identify past and emerging trends.\nLame duck sessions can occur in several ways. Either chamber or both chambers may (1) provide for an existing session to resume after a recess spanning the election; (2) continue meeting in intermittent, or pro forma, sessions during the period spanning the election; or (3) reconvene after an election pursuant to contingent authority granted to the leadership in a recess or adjournment resolution. Two other possibilities have not occurred: (4) Congress could set a statutory date for a new session to convene after the election, then adjourn its existing session sine die; and (5) while Congress is in recess or sine die adjournment, the President could call it into extraordinary session at a date after the election.\nDuring both the sporadic and the consistent periods, election breaks have usually begun by mid-October and spanned between one and two months. Congress has most often reconvened in mid-November and adjourned before Christmas so that the lame duck session lasted about a month. However, in four out the past five Congresses, lame duck sessions have continued into January, producing later adjournments, longer sessions, and more days convened in daily sessions. \nLame duck sessions have been held for a variety of reasons. Their primary purpose is to complete action on legislation. However, they have also been used to prevent recess appointments and pocket vetoes, to consider motions of censure or impeachment, or to keep Congress assembled on a standby basis. In recent years, most lame duck sessions have focused on program authorizations, trade agreements, appropriations, and the budget.\nThis report will be updated after any additional lame duck session occurs.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45154", "sha1": "1f0b5158d5736d698d9c751d50eb65d4d85b42a1", "filename": "files/20180406_R45154_1f0b5158d5736d698d9c751d50eb65d4d85b42a1.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45154", "sha1": "1c3986f6ace0146d8caaa3bbb53df1430932d607", "filename": "files/20180406_R45154_1c3986f6ace0146d8caaa3bbb53df1430932d607.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4746, "name": "House Floor Procedure" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4747, "name": "Senate Floor Procedure" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Legislative Process", "National Defense" ] }