	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 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. As today, however, congressional elections were generally held in November of even-numbered years. When this session convened, however, the next Congress would already have been elected, in the intervening (even-numbered) November. The possible means by which a lame duck session may occur are (1) pursuant to a previously enacted law prescribing an additional session of Congress; (2) following a recess within a session, but spanning the election; (3) under authority granted to the leadership at the time of a contingent adjournment or recess of the session; (4) by continuing to meet, perhaps in pro forma sessions, throughout the period spanning the election; and (5) in response to a presidential proclamation calling an extraordinary session. When it returned for its prescribed meeting in December, accordingly, a new session began. Recess of the Session

Instead, when a Congress has decided to continue meeting after an election, its usual practice has been not to adjourn sine die , but simply to recess its existing session for a period spanning the election, and then to reconvene at a date still within the constitutional term of the sitting Congress. This course of events has not occurred since 1935. Characteristics of Lame Duck Sessions Since 1935

		Dates and Lengths of Lame Duck Sessions and Election Breaks

Since the Twentieth Amendment became effective in 1935, there have been 19 lame duck sessions. Defining "Pro Forma" Sessions

In years when Congress either (1) takes an election recess or (2) reconvenes subject to call after a conditional sine die adjournment, the dates on which each house begins its recess or adjournment, and the dates on which each reconvenes, are explicitly specified. The reverse occurred in 2000, with the Senate using pro forma sessions and a recess while the House only recessed. In relation to this pattern, the four most recent election breaks have begun relatively early. These breaks have typically lasted between one and two months. Specifically, the interval between periods of consecutive sessions in 1940 (76 th Congress) was 22 days in the Senate (but 38 in the House); in 1942 (77 th Congress), it was 12 days in the House and 18 in the Senate; and in 2002 (107 th Congress), it was 20 days in both chambers. End of Lame Duck Sessions

Lame duck sessions have most often finally adjourned sine die in about mid-December, or at least before Christmas. Calendar Length of Lame Duck Sessions

From the beginning of consecutive sessions after an election to a final sine die adjournment of Congress, lame duck sessions have typically lasted about a month, as shown by the last two columns of Table 2 . In contrast, the three most recent lame duck sessions were convened for a mean of 17 days in the House and 27 days in the Senate. In fact, during the lame duck session, from November 12 to December 16, 1980, Congress completed action on many of the issues that had been left unfinished in the regular session, including the following:
a budget resolution and a budget reconciliation measure; five regular appropriations bills, although one was subsequently vetoed; a second continuing resolution was approved to continue funding for other parts of the government; an Alaska lands bill and a "superfund" bill to help clean up chemical contamination; a measure extending general revenue sharing for three years; a measure that made disposal of low-level nuclear waste a state responsibility; and changes to military pay and benefits, and authority for the President to call 100,000 military reservists to active duty without declaring a national emergency.
A "lame duck" session of Congress occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the term of the current Congress ends. Under present conditions, any meeting of Congress after election day in November, but before 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 used not only for a separate session of Congress that convenes after a sine die adjournment, but also for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election.
A lame duck session can occur in several ways. (1) 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.) (2) In 1940, 1942, and also most recently in 2008, 2010, and 2012, at least one house continued meeting in intermittent, or pro forma, sessions during the period spanning the election (in these most recent years, the Senate used this means to forestall recess appointments). (3) Congress can reconvene after an election pursuant to contingent authority granted to the leadership in a recess or adjournment resolution (the House followed this course in 1998 and 2008). Two other possibilities have not been realized: (4) Congress could set a statutory date for a new session to convene after the election, then adjourn its existing session sine die. (5) While Congress is in recess or sine die adjournment, the President could call it into extraordinary session at a date after the election.
Congress has held 19 lame duck sessions from 1940 through 2012. In these years, election breaks usually have begun by mid-October, and typically lasted between one and two months. Congress has typically reconvened in mid-November and adjourned before Christmas, so that the lame duck session lasted about a month. Yet election breaks have begun as early as August 7 or as late as November 3, and ended as early as November 7 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. Usually, however, each house has actually met on 8-24 days during these lame duck sessions (including pro forma sessions). Although between 1994 and 2006, each house met in session for fewer than 12 days, the three most recent lame duck sessions were considerably longer, lasting an average of 17 days in the House and 27 days in the Senate.
Some lame duck sessions were held largely for pro forma reasons (e.g., 1948), on a standby basis (1940, 1942), or to deal with a single specific matter (1954, 1994, 1998, 2008). Some deferred major matters to the next Congress (e.g., 1944, 1982, 2004), especially when the same party would have an increased majority. The President has sometimes presented an extensive agenda to a lame duck session, often with success when it was controlled by his own party (e.g., 1950, 2002, 2004), but less so under conditions of divided government, when he has often vetoed measures (e.g., 1970, 1974, 1982). In recent years, as well, most lame duck sessions have had to complete action on appropriations and the budget. In 1974, 1980, 1982, 2000, and 2004, this effort was at least partially successful, but in 1970, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2012, a final resolution was largely left to the next Congress. This report will be updated after any additional lame duck session occurs.