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The Twentieth Amendment (Amendment XX) to the United States Constitution establishes the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices. It also deals with scenarios in which there is no President-elect. The Twentieth Amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933.[1]
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| “ | Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them. Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article. Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission. |
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Section 1 of the amendment reduced the amount of time between Election Day and the beginning of Presidential, Vice Presidential and Congressional terms.[2] Originally, the terms of the President, the Vice President and the incoming Congress began on March 4, four months after the elections were held. While this lapse was a practical necessity at the end of the 18th century, when any newly-elected official might require several months to put his affairs in order and then undertake an arduous journey from his home to the national capital, it eventually had the effect of impeding the functioning of government in the modern age.
From the early 19th century onward, it also meant that the lame duck Congress and/or Presidential administration could, as in the case of the Congress, convene or fail to convene; in the case of the administration, to act or to fail to act, or to meet significant national crises in a timely manner. Each institution could do this on the theory that at best, a lame duck Congress or administration had neither the time nor the mandate to tackle problems. Where as the incoming administration or Congress would have both the time, and a fresh electoral mandate, to examine and address the problems that the nation faced. These problems very likely would have been at the center of the debate of the just completed election cycle.
This dilemma was seen most notably in 1861 and 1933, as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt (plus the newly elected Senators and Representatives) had to wait four months before they, and the incoming-Congresses, could deal with the secession of Southern states and the Great Depression respectively.
Originally, under Article I, Section 4, Clause 2, the Congress was required to convene at least once each year on the first Monday in December. That requirement created a mandatory lame duck session following each federal election. Section 2 of the amendment changed this required convening to January 3.
The amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933. Pursuant to Section 5 of the amendment, the changes embodied in Sections 1 and 2 took effect on October 15, 1933. This delay resulted in the first meeting of the 73rd Congress, along with the inauguration of President Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner, taking place on March 4, 1933.
On February 15, 1933, 23 days after this amendment was ratified, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by Giuseppe Zangara. If the attempt had been successful then, pursuant to Section 3 of the amendment, John Nance Garner would have become President on March 4, 1933.
The first Congressional terms to begin under Section 1 were those of the 74th Congress, on January 3, 1935. The first Presidential and Vice Presidential terms to begin under Section 1 were those of President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner, on January 20, 1937.
Because of this amendment, if the Electoral College fails to resolve who will be the President or Vice President, the incoming Congress, as opposed to the outgoing one, would choose who would occupy the unresolved office or offices.[3]
The Congress proposed the Twentieth Amendment on March 2, 1932 and the following states ratified it:[4]
Missouri was the 36th state to ratify, satisfing the requirement that three-fourths of the then 48 states approve the amendment.[5] The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states: