MADISONCENTER FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
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The Constitution,
connected.

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The constitutional text

Article II · Section 3

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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Article II, section 3 (teaching subdivision d)

A narrow presidential adjournment power

Current text
and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;

What it means

If the chambers disagree about the time of adjournment, the President may adjourn them to a time the President considers proper. The disagreement is the constitutional trigger for this unusual intervention.

Historical setting

The Constitution generally lets Congress manage its sessions while preventing one chamber from abandoning the other. This provision supplies a possible resolution to a specific interchamber impasse.

What it does

The President does not possess a general parliamentary power to dissolve Congress or end its session whenever scrutiny becomes inconvenient. The condition must be established rather than assumed from ordinary political conflict.

Debate & interpretation

The power can resolve a procedural deadlock but raises obvious concerns if used to manufacture opportunities for executive advantage. Its narrow wording is therefore as important as its existence.

A common misreading

Disagreement with the President’s agenda is not the same as disagreement between the House and Senate over adjournment time.

Think it through

What prevents a narrow deadlock-breaking authority from turning into routine executive control of the legislature’s calendar?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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