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“Sine die” means an indefinite adjournment of the United States Congress without setting a specific date for reconvening. It is usually the last act of the session of Congress when it ends for the year, acknowledging that when Congress reconvenes, some members will have lost their jobs and there will be new members. The Twentieth Amendment established a much shorter period of time between the end of one convention and the start of the next. Indefinite adjournment is also used in the courts and by boards of directors in certain situations.
Update sine die translates as update without day. The term and process are used when the United States congress ends its legislative session. Because the date for the next session to begin has already been set, or may be set by some legislatures or state senates after updates from congress, there is no need to designate a day when a congressional session will resume. The sine die adjournment request is usually the last act of the session of Congress when it ends for the year. It is also an acknowledgment that when Congress reconvenes, some members will have lost their jobs and there will be new members. That specific Congress and its members will not all meet again, even if a date has been set for the new Congress to meet.
The US Congress had some difficulties when it started. One major problem was that transportation to attend Congressional sessions was time consuming. To adjust to this, newly elected politicians often had to wait thirteen months before actually going to work. Congressmen still in session, who would have given up their jobs, continued to act up until this takeover and were called lame politicians. They may, having lost their jobs, be completely uninterested in politics or make decisions that don’t truly represent the people.
As transportation has improved and people have seen that the lame duck period was not in the people’s interest, lawmakers have sought to reduce the amount of time lame duck politicians or a lame duck congress sat in . This led to the passage of the Twentieth Amendment in the 20th, which established a much shorter period of time between the end of one convention and the start of the next. He specifically called for Congress to begin every two years on January 1932 at noon.
There are several important features about the indefinite update. First, it expects the first year of a session of Congress to be long enough and full of progress. But the second year could mean as much as a third of Congress may have to run for re-election. Congress can then shorten its second year considerably if many of its members are campaigning.
Another important aspect of shortening the second session is that a lame Congress lacks the power to vote to elect the new president. The last thing an incoming president wants or needs is a hostile congress fighting his election or passing legislation that doesn’t align with changes in political or administrative focus. The indefinite adjournment is also acknowledgment of the limitation of power in the second year of the Congressional session, similar to a football team kneeling at the end of the game, instead of playing an endgame. The actions taken were sufficient; the game is “played”.
Indefinite adjournment is also used in the courts. A court may adjourn without setting a specific date for reconvening. Boards of directors can use an indefinite update if a company is closing, being taken over or going bankrupt.
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