Joint session of the United States Congress

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Joint Sessions of the United States Congress are the gathering together of both House and Senate which occur on special occasions such as the State of the Union Address and Presidential Inauguration.

Contents

1 Forms of Joint Session and Joint Meeting
2 State of the Union
3 Historic Joint Sessions
4 References

Forms of Joint Session and Joint Meeting

While any meeting of both House and Senate of the US Congress is commonly called a Joint Session, there is a distinction between the two terms Joint Session and Joint Meeting:

Joint Session of congress requires a concurrent resolution from both House and Senate to meet. Joint sessions include the counting of electoral votes following a Presidential election and the State of the Union and other Presidential addresses.

Joint Meetings occur with unanimous consent agreements to recess and meet. These are usually convened to hear addresses from US or foreign dignitaries other than the President.

Meetings of Congress for Presidential Inaugurations are a special case called formal joint gatherings, but may also be Joint Sessions if both houses are in session at the time.

Joint Sessions and Joint Meetings are traditionally presided over by the Speaker of the House. However, the Constitution requires the President of the Senate to preside over the counting of electoral votes.

State of the Union

At some time during the first two months of each session, the President customarily delivers the State of the Union Address, a speech in which he assesses the situation of the country and outlines their legislative proposals for the congressional session. The speech is modeled on the Speech from the Throne given by the British monarch, and is mandated by the Constitution of the United States. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the original practice of delivering the speech in person before both houses of Congress, deeming it too monarchical. Instead, Jefferson and his successors sent a written message to Congress each year. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson reestablished the practice of personally attending to deliver the speech; few Presidents have deviated from this custom since.

Historic Joint Sessions

By definition, any Joint Session is significant.

The first occurrence of a Joint Session was April 6, 1789 in New York City during the 1st Congress, for the counting of electoral votes.
The first formally recorded Joint Meeting occurred in December 18, 1874 during the 43rd Congress in Washington, DC, as a reception of King Kalakaua of Hawai'i. Because of a severe cold and hoarseness, the King could not deliver his speech, which was read by former Representative Elisha Hunt Allen, then serving as Chancellor and Chief Justice of the Hawaiian Islands.

References

United States Congress — (House of Representatives, Senate)
Members	House: Current, Former, Districts \| Senate: Current, Former, Current & Former by state
Groups	African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans list, Caucuses, Committees, Demographics House: Committees \| Senate: Committees, Women list
Leaders	House: Speaker, Majority leader, Minority leader, Dem. leader, Rep. leader, Majority whip, Minority whip, Dem. whip, Rep. whip, Dem. caucus, Rep. conference, Dean Senate: President pro tempore (list), Majority and Minority leaders, Dem. Leader, Rep. Leader, Majority whip, Minority whip, Dem. Caucus (Chair, Secretary, Policy comm. chair), Rep. Conference (Chair, Secretary, Policy comm. chair), Dean
Agencies & Employees	Architect of the Capitol, Capitol guide service (board), Capitol police (board), Government Printing Office, Law Revision Counsel, Librarian of Congress, Poet laureate House: Chaplain, Clerk, Doorkeeper, Historian, Page, Parliamentarian, Postmaster, Reading clerk, Sergeant at Arms Senate: Chaplain, Curator, Page, Parliamentarian, Secretary, Sergeant at Arms
Politics & Procedure	Act of Congress (list), Caucuses, Committees, Joint session, Delegations' partisan mix House: Committees \| Senate: Committees, Filibuster, Traditions, Vice Presidents' tie-breaking votes
Buildings	Capitol Complex, Capitol, Botanic Garden House: Cannon, Ford, Longworth, O'Neill, Rayburn \| Senate: Dirksen, Hart, Russell
Research	Biographical directory, Congressional Quarterly, Congressional Record, Congressional Research Service, Federal depository library, Library of Congress, The Hill, Roll Call, THOMAS

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