Adjournment is the way in which Congress goes out of session. Whenever the House or Senate adjourns, it formally ends a legislative day. The next time that chamber reconvenes, it must go through the general order of business, including the reading of the journals (the minutes of previous sessions, which provide information such as bills and resolutions introduced, committee referrals, and votes) and other morning business. The House usually adjourns each day, but because routine morning business can be prolonged as part of a Senate filibuster, a delaying tactic, the Senate may recess rather than adjourn. A recess keeps the chamber in the same legislative day. A single legislative day of the Senate once ran for 162 calendar days, from January 3 June 12 1980
The Constitution forbids either house to adjourn for more than three days without the other's permission. During an annual session of Congress, the Senate and House from time to time will adjourn for a week to allow members to return to their districts and states, often in connection with a holiday. In nonelection years, Congress usually adjourns for the month of August. An adjournment resolution will set a specific date when the Senate and House plan to return. At the end of the session, the leadership will make a motion to adjourn sine die. This Latin phrase means “without a day,” since the resolution sets no time for Congress to return before the beginning of the next session on January 3. If a national emergency or some other unexpected business develops after an adjournment, the President can call Congress back into special, or extraordinary, session. In recent years, adjournment resolutions have also authorized the House and Senate majority leaders jointly to call Congress back from a sine die adjournment.
See also Recess, congressional
