The 20th Amendment reduced the lame duck period from four months to two months. The Constitution originally stated that Congressional terms began March 4. The 20th Amendment, ratified in early 1933, moved that date up to January 3.
That’s incorrect. Article 1, section 4 states the first Monday of December as the date when a new congress would convene. This was normal for the colonies, as their legislative business was conducted during the winter, when there was little else to do.
It was the presidential inauguration date that was moved back to January 20th from March 4th.
Thanks for the correction.
What was the reasoning for shortening the lame duck session? There’s no way we’d ever get it passed but perhaps the same logic could be applied to abolish the lame duck session all together.