On February 6 National Lame Duck Day recognizes the
ratification of the 20th Amendment on February 6, 1933 to the
United States Constitution, or the Lame Duck Amendment.
The term 'lame duck'
originated as a description of stock brokers in 1700s England
who could not pay off their debts. The term later carried over
to businessmen who, while known to be bankrupt, would continue
to do business.
The official record of
the United States Congress of January 14, 1863 read, "In no
event ... could [the Court of Claims] be justly obnoxious to the
charge of being a receptacle of 'lame ducks' or broken down
politicians." In politics a lame duck is a person currently
holding a political office who has either: lost a re-election
bid, chose not to seek another term, was prevented from running
for re-election due to a term limit, or the office held has been
eliminated.
Prior to the
ratification of the 20th Amendment to the United States
Constitution there was, for Congress a 13 month delay between
election day and the day the newly elected officials took
office. In the case of a lame duck, this was a 13 month notice
his or her job was terminating, crippling his or her influence.
Hence the lame or injured duck. The 20th Amendment shortened this period from
13 months to 2 months and changed the dates for the beginning of the new
Congress to January 3 and when the newly elected president took
office from March 4th to January 20th.
During a lame duck
session, members of Congress are no longer accountable to their
constituents. It is possible for their focus to switch to more
personal gain instead of acting on behalf of their constituents
with an eye toward re-election. Lame duck Congresses have
declared war, impeached a president, censured a senator, and
passed the Homeland Security Act among other actions. Lame duck
Presidents have pardoned many criminals, issued executive
orders, confiscated land to create national parks, declared
areas to be newly opened or newly restricted from drilling for
oil, created additional federal judges, executive clemency for
family members, and more.
Jimmy Carter's
administration published more than 10,000 pages of new rules
between Election Day and Ronald Reagan's Inauguration Day. When
President George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration
acted to block the implementation of 90 final rules that were
issued in the final months of the Clinton administration, but
that had not yet gone into effect.
Incidentally, unlike
the United States Congress, there is no 'lame duck session of
Parliament in most Commonwealth countries between the general
election and swearing in of elected officials.