Third-party members (especially the two undecided independents) in the Senate of the 47th Congress contributed to the Senate impasse witnessed during the special confirmation session for cabinet and agency officers because Senators concentrated their attention on the election of Senate officers.
The special session was supposed to take not more than eleven days. Instead, the Senate session lingered for eleven odd weeks, during which a job-seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield.
If there had not been third-party members in the Senate, the usual tie could have been broken by the Vice President's vote. Specifically, in 1881, the Senate comprised equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats (37 each). There were two undecided independents.
Thus, the presence of third-party Senators contributed to the <em>Great Senate Gridlock</em> that made it impossible for cabinet and agency officers to be confirmed before President James A. Garfield's assassination.
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