Joint session of the United States Congress

Joint session of the United States Congress
Joint session of the United States Congress
	Seal of the United States Congress
History
Founded	March 4, 1789
Leadership
Speaker of the House	Mike Johnson (R) ; since October 25, 2023
President of the Senate	Kamala Harris (D) ; since January 20, 2021
Structure
Seats	535 voting members 100 senators; 435 representatives; 6 non-voting members
Senate political groups	Democratic (47); Independent (4); Republican (49);
House of Representatives political groups	Republican (220); Democratic (213);
Meeting place
	House of Representatives Chamber; United States Capitol; Washington, D.C.; United States of America
Constitution
	United States Constitution

A joint session of the United States Congress is a gathering of members of the two chambers of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Joint sessions can be held on any special occasion, but are required to be held when the president delivers a State of the Union address, when they gather to count and certify the votes of the Electoral College as the presidential election, or when they convene on the occasion of a presidential inauguration. A joint meeting is a ceremonial or formal occasion and does not perform any legislative function, and no resolution is proposed nor vote taken.

Joint sessions and meetings are usually held in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, and are traditionally presided over by the speaker of the House. However, the Constitution requires the vice president (as president of the Senate) to preside over the counting of electoral votes.
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