Special session - Wikipedia Special session This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2009 ) In a legislature, a special session ( also extraordinary session ) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year ( often delayed by conflict between political parties ), such as outlining the government 's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period. Special sessions may also be called during an economic downturn in order to cut the budget. In other cases, a special session may be convened to address special topics, or emergencies such as war or natural disaster. Who calls a special session varies - by vote of the legislature during regular session, by the executive, or by the legislature 's speaker or presiding officer. The United Nations has both special sessions and emergency special sessions. United States In the United States of America, Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution gives the President of the United States the power to `` on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses or either of them. '' This power exists for urgent or extraordinary situations that require congressional action when Congress is adjourned. Presidents have exercised this power 46 times to recall only the Senate and 28 times to recall both Chambers of Congress, most recently by Harry Truman in 1948. The Senate itself differentiates between `` extraordinary sessions '' called by the Presidential proclamation and `` special sessions '' that merely indicate a session not normally scheduled. The term `` session '' can refer to either the formal start and end of a Congressional session or the daily sessions of the chambers of Congress. Thus a formal `` special session '' will only happen when Congress has adjourned sine die and is not simply in recess ( in other words Congress may or may not already be in an official session, but in recess, when convened ). The power is also given to some principals in the United States by their respective school constitutions. An example is the Constitution of TCM states that on extraordinary occasions the principal may convene neither or both houses of the legislature. Notes Jump up ^ United States Archives : Transcript of the Constitution Jump up ^ U.S. Senate History Jump up ^ `` Types of Sessions ''. Retrieved 26 January 2014. ^ Jump up to : Beth, Richard ; Tollestrup, Jessica ( 23 February 2013 ). `` Sessions, Adjournments, and Recesses of Congress '' ( PDF ). Congressional Research Service. pp. Summary. Retrieved 26 January 2014. This government - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special_session&oldid=832877246 '' Categories : Parliamentary procedure Government stubs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from December 2009 All articles needing additional references All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Español Edit links This page was last edited on 28 March 2018, at 13 : 34. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when can a president call a special session of congress
Answer: urgent or extraordinary situations that require congressional action when Congress is adjourned