WASHINGTON, December 29 (Sputnik) — The 113th US Congress narrowly averted being the least productive Congress in recent US history, passing over one-third of its total legislation during its final month in session, according to a Pew Research study released on Monday.
"Calculation finds that the 113th [Congress] just barely avoided the dubious title of "least productive Congress in modern history." But that's only because of an exceptionally active lame duck session," Pew Research Center senior writer Drew DeSilver said in a Pew Fact Tank report.
Pew analyzed data from the US Library of Congress and found that 37.5 percent of all substantive, non-ceremonial laws were passed by the 113th Congress in the final month they were in session, the period known as the lame duck session. It occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins.
The grand total of 296 bills passed by the most recent session of Congress beat out the historic low of the 112th Congress by only 13 bills, according to Pew data.
However, DeSilver noted that only 64 percent of the laws passed in the lame duck session were substantive, "the lowest such percentage among the past eight Congresses [from 1999-2014]."
The year-end uptick in activity included a $1.1 trillion government funding bill to prevent a government shutdown, a defense authorization bill, and new sanctions on Russia.
The 114th Congress, elected in November 2014, will begin their session after being sworn in on January 3. It will be fully controlled in the House and Senate by the Republican Party.
