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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 March 2025. Bicameral legislature of the United States For the current Congress, see 119th United States Congress. For the building, see United States Capitol. This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable ...
The first occurrence of a joint session was on April 6, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City during the 1st Congress, for the counting of electoral votes. [23] On December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the "Day of Infamy speech" to a joint session of Congress
The Constitution forbids Congress from meeting elsewhere. A term of Congress is divided into two "sessions", one for each year; Congress has occasionally also been called into an extra, (or special) session (the Constitution requires Congress to meet at least once each year). A new session commences each year on January 3, unless Congress ...
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. A session may last for the full term of the legislature or the term may consist of a number of ...
This is a list of the several United States Congresses, since their beginning in 1789, including their beginnings, endings, and the dates of their individual sessions. Each elected bicameral Congress (of the two chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives ) lasts for two years and begins on January 3 of odd-numbered years.
A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjournment, but also for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election.
While the proscription on using electronic devices is more recent, some of the current House Rules originated in the early sessions of Congress. After independence, members of Congress would often wear their hats, as was the custom in the British Parliament, however this custom was abolished in the House of Representatives in 1837. [6]
Obstructing the work of Congress is a crime under federal law, and is known as contempt of Congress. Each house of Congress has the power to cite individuals for contempt, but may not impose any punishment. Instead, after a house issues a contempt citation, the judicial system pursues the matter like a normal criminal case.