20th Amendment: Term Dates and Transition Rules

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Contents

The 20th Amendment changed the federal calendar
Congress begins before the presidential term
Section 3 addresses presidential transition contingencies
Section 4 concerns unresolved contingent elections
What the amendment did not do
Ratification and effective date
Sources

Key Facts

Federal level: The 20th Amendment moved the start of presidential and vice-presidential terms to noon on January 20.
Federal level: It moved the start of congressional terms to noon on January 3 and requires Congress to assemble at least once each year.
Federal level: The amendment shortened the period in which outgoing officials remained in office after an election.
Federal level: Section 3 addresses death or failure to qualify before the presidential term begins.
Federal level: Section 6 made the amendment effective on October 15 after ratification.

The 20th Amendment changed when newly elected federal officials take office and supplied rules for several transition problems. Ratified in 1933, it is often called the “Lame Duck Amendment” because it reduced the long delay between an election and the beginning of the next term.

The 20th Amendment changed the federal calendar

Section 1 provides that presidential and vice-presidential terms end at noon on January 20, and the successors’ terms then begin. It also provides that senators’ and representatives’ terms end at noon on January 3, with successor terms beginning at that time.

Before the amendment, federal terms generally turned over on March 4. Faster travel and communication made the lengthy post-election interval less necessary and exposed problems when outgoing officials retained authority for months.

Congress begins before the presidential term

The January 3 congressional start places the new Congress in office before the January 20 presidential transition. Section 2 requires Congress to assemble at least once every year, with the meeting beginning at noon on January 3 unless Congress sets another day by law.

The Constitution separately gives each chamber authority over its proceedings and membership. The 20th Amendment’s dates establish the term boundary rather than dictating the full congressional calendar.

Section 3 addresses presidential transition contingencies

If the President-elect dies before the term begins, Section 3 provides that the Vice President-elect becomes President. If no President has been chosen by the beginning of the term, or if the President-elect has failed to qualify, the Vice President-elect acts as President until a President qualifies.

Section 3 also authorizes Congress to provide by law for a situation in which neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect has qualified. Congress may declare who acts as President or establish how the acting President is selected until a President or Vice President qualifies.

Section 4 concerns unresolved contingent elections

The House chooses the President when the Electoral College process produces no presidential majority, while the Senate chooses the Vice President when no vice-presidential candidate has a majority. Section 4 permits Congress to address by law the death of a candidate from whom the House or Senate may choose in those circumstances.

This authority is narrower than a general power to rewrite presidential succession. The constitutional text identifies a particular death-before-selection problem in contingent elections.

What the amendment did not do

The 20th Amendment did not create presidential term limits; the 22nd Amendment did that later. It also did not supply the modern statutory order of officials who may act as President after the Vice President, which Congress addresses through succession legislation.

Nor did the amendment eliminate every “lame duck” period. An official whose successor has been elected can remain in office until the constitutionally fixed term ends, but the period is shorter than under the former March schedule.

Ratification and effective date

Congress proposed the amendment in 1932, and the required states ratified it on January 23, 1933. Under Section 6, it took effect on October 15 following ratification.

For broader context, see this guide to the U.S. Constitution and government power and this explanation of how the Electoral College works.