Adjournment of Congress

Article I, Section 5, Clause 4:

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

In Article I, Section 4, Clause 2, the Framers stipulated when Congress would assemble and begin conducting its official business.1 In Article I, Section 5, Clause 4, the Framers gave the two chambers of Congress—the House of Representatives and the Senate—authority to adjourn.2 The House and Senate can use this power independent of each other subject to the requirement that if one Chamber wants to adjourn for more than three days, it requires the other’s consent.3 If the two houses cannot agree to adjourn, the Constitution gives the President power to adjourn them.4 Article II, Section 3, provides in part “in Case of Disagreement between [the House of Representatives and the Senate], with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, [the President] may adjourn them, to such Time as he shall think proper.” 5

In his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Justice Joseph Story reasoned that by empowering Congress to determine when to adjourn, the Framers prevented the President from using the royal governor tactic of squelching dissent by adjourning colonial legislatures.6 Consequently, Article I, Section 5, Clause 4 checked the President’s power over Congress.7 Likewise, by requiring the two chambers of Congress to agree to any adjournment longer than three days, Clause 4 prevented either house from frustrating the legislative process by adjourning. In addition, by authorizing the President to resolve disagreements between the two chambers on when they would adjourn, the Framers created an incentive for the chambers to cooperate.

1: U.S. Const. art. I, § 4, cl. 2 ( “The 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.” ). Article I, Section 4, Clause 2 was superseded by ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933. U.S. Const. amend. XX ( “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.” ).
2: U.S. Const. art. I, § 5, cl. 4. For additional information on adjournments, see Richard S. Beth & Valerie Heitshusen, Cong. Rsch. Serv., R42977, Sessions, Adjournments, and Recesses of Congress (2016), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42977. Beth and Heitshusen state: “In either a daily or an annual context, generally speaking, a session is a period when a chamber is formally assembled as a body and can, in principle, engage in business. A session begins when a chamber convenes, or assembles, and ends when it adjourns. In the period between convening and adjournment, the chamber is said to be ‘in session.’ Once a chamber adjourns, it may be said to ‘stand adjourned,’ and until it reconvenes, it may be said to be ‘out of session,’ or ‘in adjournment.’ The period from a chamber’s adjournment until its next convening is also often called an adjournment. The term recess, by contrast, is generally used to refer to a temporary suspension of a session, or a break within a session. For a break within the daily session, this term is a formal designation; for a break within an annual session, the term is only colloquial, but is in general use. In either context, a recess begins when the chamber recesses, or ‘goes into recess.’ For most purposes, it can be said that a recess, like an adjournment, ends when the chamber reconvenes. During the period between recessing and reconvening, the chamber is said to be ‘in recess’ or to ‘stand in recess.’ When a chamber reconvenes from a recess, the suspended session resumes.” Id.
3: U.S. Const. art. I, § 5, cl. 4.
4: U.S. Const. art. II, § 3. See Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States § 1557 (1833) ( “The power to adjourn congress in cases of disagreement is equally indispensable; since it is the only peaceable way of terminating a controversy, which can lead to nothing but distraction in the public councils.” ). For discussion on the President’s ability to conduct business when the Senate is in recess, see ArtII.S2.C3.1 Overview of Recess Appointments Clause.
5: U.S. Const. art. II, § 3.
6: Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States § 842 (1833).
7: Id. at § 841. Justice Story further noted that “[v]ery different is the situation of parliament under the British constitution; for the king may, at any time, put an end to a session by a prorogation of parliament, or terminate the existence of parliament by a dissolution, and a call of a new parliament.” Id.