We also distinguish between substantive and ceremonial laws. We’ve chosen a fairly straightforward approach: how many laws (public laws in most cases, as opposed to private laws that apply to single individuals) each Congress actually enacted. Laws aren’t widgets, of course, and legislative productivity can be measured in many different ways – by counting the number of pages in the statute book, how many votes were taken, comparing bills introduced with bills enacted, and so on. This post is the latest in a series, starting in 2014, examining the productivity of Congress. Among the bills enacted during the recent lame-duck session was a $900 billion economic relief bill that had been the subject of a congressional standoff for months leading up to Election Day. That’s the highest share of lame-duck legislation since at least the 93rd Congress of 1973-74, the first years of our analysis. More than four-in-ten bills that became law out of the 116th Congress (151 of 344, or 44%) were passed in the final two months of its two-year term. ![]() But none in the nearly five decades for which data is available has been as legislatively productive as the lame-duck session of the 116th Congress, which wrapped up on Jan. Lame-duck sessions historically were used to wrap up pending business, and more recently to cut last-minute budget deals. ![]() The unflattering descriptor alludes to the senators and representatives who have lost reelection or whose terms are almost up but can still help make laws for a few more weeks. Post-general election meetings of Congress, which have become routine in recent decades, are commonly known as “lame-duck” sessions.
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