Talk:Joint session of the United States Congress

Needs more
This needs more info, or it's just a copy of what's in the U.S. Congress article. Sugestion, notable Joint Sessions in history. --John R. Barberio talk, contribs 21:52, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

What chamber do the joint sessions take place in?
 * The House. - 64.187.160.52 (talk) 07:02, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Seating?
Surely there isn't enough room in the area where Representatives are normally seated to fit the hundred Senators in as well. How does Congress squeeze itself into the House? Johnleemk | Talk 17:21, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
 * There are 448 seats in the House Chamber. Seats are reserved for the Senate, for members of the President's Cabinet and Joint Chiefs of Staff, for Justices of the Supreme Court who choose to attend (fewer recently than had historically been the case; Justice Breyer is a regular attendee), and for ambassadors of foreign countries. That leaves not enough seats for the Representatives; I believe that except for a few senior Members who are chosen to serve on the "committee of escort," seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Newyorkbrad 17:33, 9 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Couldn't they remove desks from the back rows and fit in additional seats? Especially if there are going to be several hours before and after the joint session when there will be nobody or a much smaller number present?
 * Also, how are members seated in normal session? In the British Parliamentary system, members are seated by party group, and within that group, proximity to the Speaker is determined by precedence (who's been there the longest or holds a higher rank due to office served such as a cabinet post), although the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader face each other from the middle, and the cabinet is grouped around the PM in the front two rows of five on the government side. GBC 23:19, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't believe the benches on the floor of the House Chamber are movable (because of the much greater number of Members, there are long rows of seats in the House, not individual desks as in the Senate). Regarding seating in the U.S. House and Senate, see under United States House of Representatives for some information about seating in the House Chamber, and United States Senate for the Senate. More information should available on the House and Senate websites (www.house.gov and www.senate.gov). Newyorkbrad 23:31, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I thought that the overflow of Congresspeople sat up in the gallery. - 64.187.160.52 (talk) 07:02, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Foreign dignitaries
While every address to a joint session of Congress is significant, the fact that Italy leaders have given four such addresses seems no more significant than the fact that French leaders have given five and Spanish leaders have given two. M Pinck 13:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Rescent Foreign dignitaries that are not mentioned: K. Mitsotakis (Greece), and V. Zelensky (Ukrain) both in 2022. Correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:85F:F536:E700:39BB:DA7F:D34A:43E5 (talk) 15:42, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

Copyedit proposed
I'm working on a proposed revamp of United States Congress in the United States Congress/sandbox and will move some material to this article here. But looking this over, I think this article needs a copyedit -- too many section breaks in my opinion. If people have concerns please let me know here or on my talk page. --Tomwsulcer (talk) 13:06, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Presidential Addresses
Is there any reason to believe that President Obama's address on jobs is going to more remarkable than the dozens of others Presidential addresses? If we're going to list examples, I would think Wilson's 14 Points speech, FDR's post-Pearl Harbor speech and George W. Bush's War on Terrorism speech are better examples. Unless someone explains the selection of this particular address, I'm going to edit the section and reference other examples of remarkable Presidential addresses. M Pinck (talk) 11:40, 2 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I think the ACA joint address was remarkable if only for Joe Wilson's breach of decorum. - 64.187.160.52 (talk) 07:03, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Who and how?
Who calls joint sessions? Are the houses obliged to attend? Can the houses refuse to hold a joint session? Could a president therefore decide to hold a joint session every single day just to screw with Congress? - 64.187.160.52 (talk) 07:05, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

State of the Union
The state of the union can be delivered in written form but if it is an address then it must be to a joint session. Psalms79&#59;6-7 (talk) 19:03, 31 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Source? (Just saying it stands to reason won't cut it.) --Closeapple (talk) 03:50, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Psalms79&#59;6-7 (talk) 14:48, 1 February 2019 (UTC)

"Counting of the electoral votes" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Counting of the electoral votes. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 January 7 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. —Bagumba (talk) 11:31, 11 January 2021 (UTC)