Congress Out for the Weekend; House Returns Monday Still Snarled Over SAVE America Standoff
Both chambers were out of session over the weekend, with only brief pro forma meetings on the record. The House returns Monday facing the same intraparty Republican impasse that forced an early recess and left the annual defense bill, spending bills, and expired surveillance powers unresolved.
There was little to report from Capitol Hill over the past 48 hours. The weekend fell inside a scheduled break, and the last recorded activity was procedural. The Senate met at 4 p.m. Thursday in a pro forma session, and adjourned at 4:00:30 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 13, 2026. The House held no votes and no hearings the same day.
The quiet masks an unresolved standoff. According to a July 6 Capitol Hill summary from KPMG, House Republican leaders sent members home early because a faction is insisting on floor action on the SAVE America Act, an election and immigration measure backed by the President. A dozen or so House Republicans blocked consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, which had been approved by the Armed Services Committee, and also blocked two committee-passed appropriations bills. So long as SAVE remains the President's priority, progress on other legislation before the August recess is uncertain. The NDAA is the annual defense policy bill; appropriations bills fund federal agencies for the fiscal year beginning October 1.
Two other items remain in limbo. Foreign surveillance authority expired before the recess and has yet to be extended. And the President has withheld his signature from a bipartisan housing bill. Congress passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with overwhelming majorities, 85-5 in the Senate and 358-32 in the House. The President declined to sign it upon transmission, again demanding that Congress first pass the SAVE America Act. The Hill reported the House has just two legislative weeks before the August recess, with only eight legislative days scheduled to remain when Congress returns.
The most recent substantive floor action came June 29, before the break. The House passed the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act. The House passed H.R. 7128, the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, by a vote of 373-15. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., reauthorizes the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program through 2034; the program covers a portion of the losses incurred by private insurers for property and casualty insurance coverage for terrorism risk. The House also passed the KIDS Act, an online-safety measure, 267-117 , and unanimously approved a resolution directing the Ethics Committee to preserve and release records on sexual-harassment settlements.
Looking to Monday, the House returns to work. The House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business, with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. The Rules Committee is set to take up several measures, including H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act; H.R. 8595, the State, Foreign Operations 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. In the Senate, the chamber resumes judicial confirmations, with a vote on confirmation of Arthur Roberts Jones, of Texas, to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, at 5:30 p.m. , followed by action on Second Circuit nominee Matthew A. Schwartz.
Whether the House can move any of its stalled priorities will depend on resolving the SAVE America dispute that shut down floor action before the recess.
Highlights: - The Senate met in a 30-second pro forma session Thursday and - adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 13, 2026 - ; the House likewise held no votes, meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday and adjourning three minutes later. - Before the July 4 recess, - support for the President's demand for action on the SAVE America Act led House Republican leadership to recess the House early; a dozen or so House Republicans blocked consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act and two committee-passed appropriations bills. - Monday's return sets up Senate confirmation votes on judicial nominees and a House Rules Committee session teeing up four bills, including a State-Foreign Operations spending measure.