Reading Room Document

The President's Authority to Convene the Senate

Article II, section 3 of the Constitution gives the President a broad grant of authonty to convene Congress or either House of Congress "on extraordinary occasions." The language and purpose of the clause make plain that the President may exercise this authority to convene the Senate during an intra-session break. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/24281/download.

July 26, 1989