[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_veuEhhb1658wti0_ZAig66JOyixENU-N9zhjLQSLfOQ.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=heritage_theme\u0026include=eJwrTi1LzdNPzkksLq7Uy8tPSQUAPMsGtA"}]},{"command":"invoke","selector":null,"method":"openEssay","args":["10000019","\n\n\u003Carticle about=\u0022\/constitution\/articles\/1\/essays\/20\/meetings-of-congress-clause\u0022 class=\u0022node node--type-constitution-essay node--promoted node--view-mode-embedded clearfix\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMeetings of Congress Clause\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-location\u0022\u003E\n      Article I, Section 4, Clause 2\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-context\u0022\u003E\n      \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-body\u0022\u003E\n    \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEver mindful of federalism and the separation\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003Eof powers, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention believed that the scheduling of congressional sessions was a significant issue. There was no thought given to the British model, in which the executive called Parliament to meet. The Framers did allow the President to convene Congress in a special session for \u201cextraordinary Occasions\u201d (Article II, Section 3), but they fixed the date of Congress\u2019s regular sessions to keep it free from executive control.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EJames Madison submitted that the \u201cLegislature shall meet on the first Monday in December in every year\u201d and the delegates added a provision to allow for a different date \u201cappointed by law\u201d (thus permitting the possibility of executive veto). At first, the delegates argued over the date on the basis of convenience or for extrinsic concerns. Gouverneur Morris moved to substitute May for December because the United States would likely legislate in response to Europe\u2019s measures, which were generally planned during the winter and would likely arrive in the United States by spring. Madison changed his mind and stated that he also preferred May because the season would be more agreeable to traveling to and from the capital. In contrast, James Wilson and Oliver Ellsworth argued that requiring the legislature to assemble in December would be more convenient for private business, because most of the Members would be involved with agriculture during the spring and summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEdmund Randolph, however, turned the debate to concerns for the structural integrity of the polity. He noted that the state elections would better coincide with the December date, and the vote to require assembly in the month of May did not pass. The issue was not closed, however. Madison was in favor of annual meetings, but of leaving the date to \u201cbe fixed or varied by law.\u201d Gouverneur Morris and Rufus King believed yearly meetings were not necessary, for there would not be enough legislative business for Congress to deal with annually.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ENathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts focused the delegates\u2019 attention once again on the structural needs of the new government. He argued that the time should be fixed to prevent disputes from arising within the legislature, and to allow the states to adjust their elections to correspond with the fixed date. A fixed date also corresponded to the tradition in the states of having annual meetings. Finally, Gorham concluded that the legislative branch should be required to meet at least once a year to act as a check upon the executive department.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, Article I, Section 4, Clause 2 bound legislative discretion and placed the requirement for annual legislative sessions \u201cbeyond the power of faction, and of party, of power, and of corruption,\u201d according to Justice Joseph Story in \u003Ci\u003ECommentaries on the Constitution\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eof the United States \u003C\/i\u003E(1833). In practice, prior to the\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003Epassage of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, each numbered Congress existed from March 4 of the odd-numbered year to March 3 of the next odd-numbered year, but the regular sessions began on the first Monday in December and generally lasted well into spring.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch an arrangement did not become controversial until the sixth Congress, elected in 1798 and controlled by Federalists, met in its second session in December 1800, after it was clear that Jefferson had won the presidency. Its sweeping legislative program embittered the new President, who sought the following year, with his new Republican majority, to undo what that previous Congress had wrought.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--media\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--photo\u0022 style=\u0022background-image: url(\/sites\/default\/files\/David_Forte.jpg)\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--info\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Ch4 class=\u0022con-essay-author--name\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/facultyprofile.csuohio.edu\/csufacultyprofile\/detail.cfm?FacultyID=D_FORTE\u0022\u003EDavid F. Forte\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/h4\u003E\n                  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--job\u0022\u003E\n         Professor, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-tabs\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cul data-tabs class=\u0022tabs\u0022\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000019-taba\u0022\u003EFurther Reading\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000019-tabb\u0022\u003ECase Law\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000019-tabc\u0022\u003ERelated Essays\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n      \u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv data-tabs-content\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000019-taba\u0022\u003E\n          \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000019-tabb\u0022\u003E\n          \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000019-tabc\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000095\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EConvening of Congress\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000181\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EPresidential Terms\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n\u003C\/article\u003E\n"]}]