Adjournment

Adjournment is the action of Congress in bringing its meetings to a close. In the congressional context the word has several different meanings.

The terms of Congress run in two-year cycles, and Congress must hold a regular series of meetings, called a session, each year. (See Terms and Sessions of Congress.) At the end of a year's session, the Senate and House adjourn sine die (a Latin phrase meaning “without a day”). This means that the lawmakers do not intend to meet again in that particular session. Adjournment of the second session is generally the final action of a term of Congress. The president has authority under the Constitution to convene special sessions of Congress. Members frequently authorize their leaders to call them back into session as well. Unless called back, Congress will meet next on the constitutionally fixed date for a new session, January 3 of the next year. The Constitution gives the president power to adjourn Congress when the houses cannot agree about the time of adjournment, but this has never happened.

Within a session Congress may adjourn for holiday observances, vacations, or other brief periods. This practice is known as adjournment to a day certain. Lawmakers set a date for the session to reconvene. By constitutional directive neither chamber may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.

In the House of Representatives daily sessions almost always end in daily adjournment. The Senate may also adjourn, but it is far more likely to recess. By recessing, [Page p3]it continues the same legislative day into the next calendar day, an arrangement that offers certain procedural benefits under Senate rules. A single legislative day may go on for weeks and does not end until the Senate next adjourns.