Lame Duck

Now that the 111th Congress is officially over, we can start preparing for the 112th!  Since the election in November, the House and Senate were busy putting the final touches on several pieces of legislation.   This is commonly referred to as a lame-duck session.  So what is a lame-duck session?

When Congress is in session after a November election and before the beginning of the new Congress, it is known as a “lame-duck session.”

There actually have been many of these sessions since 1933.

Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-136061

Since the last election, Congress has sent several items to the President (and considered sending several more).  It’s easy to follow what passes both the House and Senate and is sent to the White House for the President’s signature through an RSS feed and email alert that you can subscribe to.  THOMAS also has a link from the homepage for Passed Congress, Sent to President that displays the most recent items.

If you haven’t already subscribed, you can see the results of the lame-duck session.  Some of the top items THOMAS users have looked at include:

• H.R.2751: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
• H.R.2965: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010
• H.R.3082: Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
• H.R.4853: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010

And of course:

• S.J.RES.40: A joint resolution appointing the day for the convening of the first session of the One Hundred Twelfth Congress.  (Spoiler alert: “the One Hundred Twelfth Congress shall begin at noon on Wednesday, January 5, 2011″)