Congress in Recess Through the Weekend; Senate Returns Monday to Judicial Votes as KIDS Act Awaits Its Fate
Both the House and Senate were out of session over the past two days, holding only brief pro forma meetings, and neither chamber will hold votes until Monday, July 13. The most consequential recent action remains the House's late-June passage of a sweeping children's online safety package now stalled in the Senate.
Congress conducted no legislative business over the past 24 to 48 hours. Both chambers are in a scheduled summer recess. The Senate held only a brief pro forma session on July 9, and the House likewise gaveled in and out without recorded votes. The next votes in the House are expected Monday, July 13. The Senate returns to legislative work the same day.
The recess follows an unusually messy exit before the July 4 break. According to NewsNation, House Republican leaders called off a series of scheduled votes, leaving several major bills in limbo as lawmakers prepared to leave Washington, and the Senate headed into recess and would not be back for votes until July 13. Reporting from NTD noted the House left Washington earlier than planned after Republicans failed to advance a rule linking the Save America Act to the National Defense Authorization Act. Several priorities remain unfinished. On hold are the SAVE America Act elections overhaul, a bipartisan housing bill, a defense spending bill and a major funding package, with President Trump refusing to sign the housing bill until the SAVE Act passes first. A long-delayed farm bill also remains stuck over its contents.
The signature accomplishment from the final pre-recess week was the House's passage of a broad children's online safety package. The House passed a sprawling package of kids online safety bills, marking the first time a version of the landmark Kids Online Safety Act made it out of the lower chamber. The package, drawn from portions of 14 digital safety bills, was brought to the floor under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires two-thirds support. Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., called it, in his words, "a significant and long-overdue step forward," and "an important milestone, not a finish line." The bill faces resistance in the Senate. The House version omits "duty of care" language that would require platforms to mitigate harms from design features like endless scroll or algorithmic recommendations, a provision proponents say is key to holding tech companies accountable. Digital rights groups, meanwhile, have raised First Amendment and privacy objections to its age-verification mandates.
In other late-June action, the House reauthorized the federal terrorism insurance program. The TRIA Program Reauthorization Act, H.R. 7128, sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., would extend the program through 2034; the June 29 vote was 373 to 15. The House also rejected an antiwar measure: a resolution by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., that would have required the removal of U.S. soldiers from hostilities in Lebanon failed 189 to 235 on June 30.
The week ahead brings a return to committee work. Per the Congressional Record, the House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Monday on measures including H.R. 139, the "Sunshine Protection Act of 2025"; H.R. 8595, the State Department appropriations bill for 2027; H.R. 9237, the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act"; and H.R. 1181, the "Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act." Expect floor activity to resume in earnest midweek as members reckon with the backlog of stalled spending and policy bills.
Highlights: - Congress is in a scheduled recess: - the Senate met at 4 p.m. in pro forma session on July 9 and adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 13, 2026 - , while the House met July 9 and adjourned within minutes with no votes. - When the Senate returns, it plans to - vote on confirmation of the nomination of Arthur Roberts Jones, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, at 5:30 p.m. - Monday, and to resume the nomination of Matthew A. Schwartz to the Second Circuit. - The House's most recent major vote: the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, H.R. 7757, which - passed in a 267-117 vote, with 47 members not voting - on June 29.