Soon after taking control of Congress, the Democrats passed the Boland Amendment, which restricted the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DoD) in foreign conflicts. During his campaign for the White House, Reagan had promised to assist anti-Communist insurgencies around the globe, but the so-called “ Reagan Doctrine” faced a political hurdle following those mid-term elections. The results would complicate the president’s agenda. President Ronald Reagan, who won the White House in 1980, wasn’t able to maintain the political momentum for his Republican colleagues, and the GOP was swept from the majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives in the 1982 mid-term elections. It is not impossible for this to change with an amendment similar to the 20th Amendment in 1933, but it does not currently seem to be a priority of the parties and will likely not change in the near future.The Iran-Contra Affair, also known as “The Iran-Contra Scandal” and “Irangate,” may not have happened were it not for the political climate in the early 1980s. There are also pending lawsuits and recounts for the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada, so those will be settled in between November 7th (when Joe Biden exceeded the 270 necessary electoral votes) and January 20th.īecause of all these factors, Inauguration Day remains January 20th. In this year’s presidential election, there was a record number of mail-in ballots (more than approximately 100 million) that took time to be counted and processed. Others feel that the period between Election Day and the new president’s inauguration is necessary to work out any issues or questions about ballot counting. For example, in the past, the secession of southern states was after Abraham Lincoln had been elected but before he was inaugurated.
Some have expressed disapproval for the “lame duck” period and feel that it is unfair to the incoming president because important decisions that will impact their next four years could be made without their input. Later, the 20th Amendment that was added in 1933 moved the inauguration date to January 20th.
There used to be an even longer period of time between Election Day and Inauguration Day George Washington was inaugurated on April 30th, 1789 after being elected on December 15th. Additionally, the counting of ballots took longer than it presently does due to a lack of technology, so time was given for that after Election Day. Originally, travel was much more time consuming across the United States, so the Continental Congress left a long period of time to allow members of Congress to travel to the ceremony.
The reason for the wait to transition to a new president, or the “lame duck” period, is rooted in historical reasons that are mostly no longer as prevalent in American life. Although Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been declared the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect, Donald Trump and Mike Pence will keep their positions until January 20th, 2021.
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