There have been 69 days in 2014 so far. Congress has worked 28 of them.

Members of Congress worked just two full days last week due to a snowstorm that postponed the start of the week until Tuesday night (for the House) and Wednesday morning (for the Senate).

That truncated schedule got us thinking: How many days has Congress worked this year and how does the workload compare to previous years?

The House and Senate usually begin their weeks around 2 p.m. Monday. Lawmakers usually hold their first votes Monday evening -- 5:30 p.m. in the Senate and 6:30 p.m. in the House.

In a typical week, members of the House and Senate work only two full days: Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For these purposes, we'll call "full days" when committees begin public hearings around 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. and votes continue into the late afternoon. When either chamber meets on Thursday, it's usually done as early as late morning and usually no later than 3 p.m. so lawmakers can get out of town by Thursday evening. Neither chamber has cast a vote this year on a Friday.

So far this year, the House and/or Senate has met or held votes a total of 28 of the 69 days of 2014. In some cases, only one chamber was open on a certain day. The House has met or voted on 22 days, while Senate has met or voted on 26 days. That's up from last year, when the House had met or held votes on 19 days at this point, while the Senate had met or held votes on 18. Both chambers took slightly longer-than-anticipated breaks in January last year after the dramatic year-end "fiscal cliff" votes and the presidential inauguration. In 2012, the House had met or voted on 26 days by March 10, while the Senate had met or voted on 24 days.

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