206th Congress 2nd Session - A "Do Nothing" Congress?

The 2nd session of the 109th House of Representatives (calendar year 2006) adjourned sine die on Friday, December 8th. Ending the year with only 101 legislative days (104 calendar days) in session, this House met fewer times than the "Do Nothing" Congress of 1948.

Since the 95th Congress, which convened 30 years ago in 1977, the House has had an annual average of 139 legislative days in session. The 95th House, 2nd session (1977) met for a total of 174 legislative days, followed by the 1st session of the 96th House, which met for 173. In contrast, the 2nd sessions of the 108th and 109th Houses, which met in 2004 and 2006 respectively, were in session for only 110 and 101 legislative days.

For more detail, check out the Days in Session Calendars for the House (back to 1975) and Senate (back to 1978) from the Library of Congress' Thomas site.