Lame Ducks

A lame duck is a wounded bird that does not have long to live. In Great Britain the term refers to a bankrupt business person, while on Wall Street it denotes someone who is unable to meet his or her financial commitments. In politics and government, however, a lame duck is an office holder whose authority is due to expire in the near future.

The Twentieth Amendment (1933) is referred to as the “Lame Duck Amendment.” “The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January,” states section 1, “and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd 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.” According to section 2, “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.”

Before the amendment, these officials had taken office on March 4 of the year following an election. Because Congress had set the date of federal elections as Tuesday after the first Monday in November, an incumbent may have been defeated at the polls in November but could continue to vote in Congress until March. In Congress the long period in between became known as the lame-duck session.

The problem with lame-duck sessions was exacerbated when a different party was about to control the incoming Congress. It was just such a lame-duck session that created havoc in 1801. Congress, controlled by the Federalist Party—which was voted out of power in November 1800—confirmed the appointment by the Federalist Party President John Adams, who had been defeated at the polls, of William Marbury to be a justice of the peace. The stage was thus set for the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803), establishing the Court's power of judicial review to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.

For one reason or another presidents have also been referred to as lame ducks. In 1968, for example, Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) decided not to seek reelection, and in [Page p293]1980 Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) lost his bid for a second term. In addition, the Twenty-second Amendment (1951) prohibits the president from serving a third term, making even two-term presidents essentially lame ducks at the end of their second term. A lame duck in this case is a person holding an office of great power whose power is about to expire and who thus becomes weaker by the day.

See also Amendments; Appointment and Removal Power; House of Representatives; Senate; Terms of Office.