A lame politician is an elected official who is unable to command political support and is in office until the winner of the election takes over. The Twentieth Constitutional Amendment, known as the Lame Duck Amendment, eliminated a lame session of Congress. The term lame duck was coined by the London Stock Exchange in the 18th century and refers to someone who is unable to meet their financial obligations.
A lame politician is someone in office who is neither indebted to the constituency that elected him nor able to command any political support. This is because the lame politician is simply in office until the winner of the election takes over. The incumbent candidate may have lost the election or may be unable to run for re-election due to ineligibility or personal choice. There are often many lame politicians in the United States, because elected politicians are not sworn in until some time after the election results are declared. The president-elect, for example, does not take office until January 20, despite elections taking place in November.
The Twentieth Constitutional Amendment, which provides for this protocol for changing executive office to coincide with a new session of Congress, is known as the Lame Duck Amendment. He eliminated a lame session of Congress, during which nothing was accomplished. Before this amendment was added, the president-elect did not take office until March 20. Thus, Congress, which was supposed to meet once a year in December, went a couple of months after the election without proper executive branch leadership.
The 20th Amendment passed on January 23, 1933, after the Great Depression worsened under the lame presidency of Herbert Hoover, despite the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt had already been elected. The amendment allows a lame president or governor to call a session of lame Congress. Congressional lawmakers may decide to call a lame duck session by voting on the issue during the session before an election.
The term lame duck was coined during the 18th century by the London Stock Exchange and was originally used to refer to someone who is unable to meet their financial obligations due to losses incurred in the stock market. In this sense, a lame duck could also be a trader or investor who has made a series of bad investments and has suffered financial losses as a result. Lame duck can also refer to a player in a game who cannot win but remains in the game.
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