<P> Although this clause provides that the annual meeting was to be on the first Monday in December , the government established by the 1787 Constitution did not begin operations until March 4 , 1789 . As the 1st Congress held its initial meeting on March 4 , that became the date on which new representatives and senators took office in subsequent years . Therefore , every other year , although a new Congress was elected in November , it did not come into office until the following March , with a `` lame duck '' session convening in the interim . This practice was altered in 1933 following ratification of the Twentieth Amendment , which states ( in Section 2 ) that , `` The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year , and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of January , unless they shall by law appoint a different day '' . This change virtually eliminated the necessity of there being a lame duck session of Congress . </P>
<P> Although this clause provides that the annual meeting was to be on the first Monday in December , the government established by the 1787 Constitution did not begin operations until March 4 , 1789 . As the 1st Congress held its initial meeting on March 4 , that became the date on which new representatives and senators took office in subsequent years . Therefore , every other year , although a new Congress was elected in November , it did not come into office until the following March , with a `` lame duck '' session convening in the interim . This practice was altered in 1933 following ratification of the Twentieth Amendment , which states ( in Section 2 ) that , `` The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year , and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of January , unless they shall by law appoint a different day '' . This change virtually eliminated the necessity of there being a lame duck session of Congress . </P>
when was congress supposed to meet according to the original constitution
when was congress supposed to meet according to the original constitution
first Monday in December
first Monday in December