RE:what is lame duck?
by ynagarjunaprasad on Nov 10, 2006 08:05 PM Permalink
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 end of the current Congresss term. The Members in the lame duck session, therefore, are the sitting Members of the existing Congress, not the Members-elect of the new Congress.
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, regular sessions of Congress begin on January 3 of each year, unless Congress passes a law in the previous session 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 between election day in an even-numbered year and the following January 3 is considered a lame duck session. From 1935 through 2002, there were 14 lame duck sessions. The most recent occurred at the end of the 107th Congress in 2002. Later sections of this report describe each of the 14 lame duck sessions.
Meaning of Lame Duck. The expression lame duck was originally applied in 18th century Britain to bankrupt businessmen, who were considered as lame in the sense that their situation had left themwith diminished powers. 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 when he cannot run for reelection, or has declared himself not a candidate for reelection. Members of Congress who do not gain reelection are lame ducks in this sense. When a Congress that includes these Members meets in a post-election session, this session is called a lame duck session as well.
