And during that lame duck legislative session, there was a perception that legislators were no longer motivated by serving their constituents but instead would be sort of more subject to pressure. They didn't have a new session until the following December and what that meant was members of Congress who were newly elected in November of one year wouldn't actually begin their work as legislators until 13 months later in December of the following year and, in addition to that, legislators who were not re-elected in those November elections would nevertheless serve for the short winter term until March when the turnover happened. And after that Congress didn't actually sit. LP: The 20th amendment is called the Lame Duck Amendment and actually it's not necessarily aimed primarily or solely, that term lame duck, at the president because what happened prior to the ratification of the 20th Amendment is that members of Congress were also elected in the November elections but Congress didn't pass its membership over also until March.
TMLT: What precipitated the 20th Amendment? It used to be that presidential inauguration happened in March, that was how the original founders of the country and the Constitutional plan did it because that's the first time that a president was inaugurated and we have begun to inaugurate our presidents in January only after the ratification of the 20th Amendment which happened in 1933. LP: Actually, Inauguration Day has not always been on January 20 th. Three-Minute Legal Tips: What requires inauguration day to be on January 20th? Liz Porter: I'm Liz Porter and I'm the associate dean for academic administration at UW Law. Supreme Court has never issued a decision pertaining to the law. In three minutes, UW Law Associate Dean for Academic Administration Liz Porter discusses the amendment's history, what it does and does not cover, and why the U.S. Constitution's 20th Amendment is a largely procedural piece of legislation dealing with timelines and processes around transition of power and line of succession for newly elected officials.īut in an election year unlike any other - one in which the United States has faced numerous challenges to its democratic foundations - it is more important than ever to understand what exactly this "lame duck" amendment is, why we have it and what it protects.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice-President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice-President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice-President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice-President shall have qualified. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice-President elect shall become President. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The terms of the President and Vice-President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
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