The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th Day of January, and the terms of senators and representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.Section 2 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3 If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case where neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4 The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President, whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5 Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6 This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission.
Amendment 20 was passed by Congress on March 2, 1932 and ratified on January 23, 1933:
The 1933 “Norris Lame Duck” Amendment [named after Nebraska Senator George W. Norris], as it was popularly known at the time of its ratification, eliminates the December to March Congressional “lame duck” short sessions that resulted from constitutionally and legislatively established dates for the beginning (December) and close (March in odd numbered years) of congressional sessions. The March date reflected the time required to journey to Washington before railroads shortened travel time. Sessions beginning in December of the even years lasted only three months. Congressmen elected in those years did not take office for thirteen months, and those whom they had defeated continued service in the short session. The Sessions, marked by obstructionist filibusters, were unproductive, and in light of change in travel and communications, became obsolete…..The amendment also moves the inauguration date for president and vice president from March to January, clarifies the status of the vice president-elect should the president-elect die before taking office (vice president-elect becomes president-elect), and enables Congress to legislate concerning other stipulated exigencies regarding presidential succession.1
Because the elected positions of president, vice president, senators, and representatives are themselves unbiblical, the additional regulations found in Amendment 20 are extraneous. See Chapter 5 “Article 2: Executive Usurpation” and Chapter 4 “Article 1: Legislative Usurpation” for more regarding these superfluous positions of leadership.
Click to order the Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution CDs:
- The e-book (on CD) A Christian Perspective on the U.S. Constitution
- The audio CD The Bible vs. The U.S. Constitution (Pts. 1 & 2)
1. “Twentieth Amendment,” Oxford Companion to the US Supreme Court: Twentieth Amendment, <http://www.answers.com/topic/amendment-xx-to-the-u-s-constitution?&print=true>.