Enactment of Appropriations Measures During Lame Duck Sessions (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 5, 2024 |
| Report Number |
R46574 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Kevin P. McNellis |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Fourteen of the past 15 Congresses have concluded with post-election, or “lame duck,” sessions.
Under contemporary conditions, any meeting of Congress that occurs between a congressional
election in November and the following January 3 is termed a lame duck session. The defining
characteristic of a lame duck session is that its participants are the sitting Members of the existing
Congress, not those who have been elected to sit in the new Congress.
The enactment of appropriations measures has been an element of most of the lame duck sessions since the 103rd Congress.
No regular or continuing appropriations measures (continuing resolutions, or CRs) were enacted during lame duck sessions
held in 1994, 1998, 2008, and 2012. However, a total of 49 regular and 25 CRs were enacted during the 10 other lame duck
sessions held in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022.
Lame duck sessions have in some instances afforded Congress an opportunity to complete action on regular appropriations
for a fiscal year. In other instances, Congress completed action on regular appropriations either before or after a lame duck
session. In total, 51 of the 172 full-year appropriations acts signed into law during this period were enacted prior to a lame
duck session, 49 were enacted during a lame duck session, and 72 were enacted after a lame duck session by the next
Congress.
The enactment of CRs was also an important element in most, but not all, of the lame duck sessions that occurred during the
103rd
-117th Congresses. In total, 72 CRs were enacted for fiscal years that coincided with lame duck sessions over this period.
Thirty-five of these CRs were enacted prior to a lame duck session, 25 were enacted during a lame duck session, and 12 were
enacted after a lame duck session by the next Congress.
