Congress Returns From Recess as Senate Lines Up Judicial Votes and a Contentious Defense Bill
After a week of pro forma sessions around the July 4 holiday, the House and Senate returned to legislative work Monday, July 13, with the Senate teeing up two judicial confirmations and the $1.5 trillion FY2027 defense authorization bill, and the House resuming votes in the evening.
The past 24 to 48 hours were quiet on Capitol Hill. Both chambers were out over the weekend, closing a stretch of pro forma sessions—brief, gavel-in, gavel-out meetings with no votes—that ran through the July 4 recess. The Senate met at 4 p.m. in a pro forma session on July 9 and adjourned 30 seconds later until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 13, with no committee meetings held. Monday marks the return to real legislative business.
In the Senate, the immediate focus is judicial confirmations. Under a prior agreement, upon the conclusion of morning business Monday the Senate was to resume post-cloture consideration of the nomination of Matthew A. Schwartz of New York to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, and to 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. On the Schwartz nomination, the Senate earlier agreed to the motion to close debate by 52 yeas to 45 nays. A unanimous-consent agreement set the confirmation vote on Schwartz for Tuesday, July 14. The roughly party-line margins on these nominations reflect how sharply divided the chamber has become over lifetime judicial appointments.
Looming behind the nominations is the annual defense policy bill. Under the agreement, the cloture motion on S. 4784 is set to ripen following disposition of the Schwartz nomination. The bill is unusually contentious this year. According to Legis1, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved S. 4784 on an 18-9 party-line vote, a narrower margin than past defense bills, and the measure was introduced and reported by Chairman Roger F. Wicker (R-Miss.) with no cosponsors listed. The bill authorizes a historic $1.5 trillion in defense spending, described as a 42 percent increase over current levels. For comparison, the FY2026 NDAA passed the full Senate 77-20, indicating broader support last year. The bill faces 56 filed amendments as it enters floor consideration. The NDAA has traditionally been one of Congress's most bipartisan measures, so the partisan tension is notable.
On the House side, members returned Monday afternoon. Per the majority leader's schedule, the House met at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business, with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. The chamber was slated to consider several bills under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process reserved for noncontroversial measures that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. The House Rules Committee, which sets terms for floor debate on more significant bills, was scheduled to meet at 4 p.m., and a Veterans' Affairs technology subcommittee hearing was set for 3 p.m.
The most consequential recent House action came before the recess, when the chamber passed two major bills. The KIDS Act (H.R. 7757) passed 267-117, and the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 (H.R. 7128), extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance program, passed 373-15. The children's online safety package now faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where some members argue the House version omits key protections. GovWatch will track floor outcomes as this week's votes are recorded.
Highlights: - The Senate reconvened at 3 p.m. Monday to take up judicial nominations, with a 5:30 p.m. confirmation vote scheduled for Arthur Roberts Jones as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. - Circuit Judge nominee Matthew A. Schwartz (2nd Circuit) advanced on a 52-45 cloture vote, with a final confirmation vote set for Tuesday, July 14. - The FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 4784), which authorizes roughly $1.5 trillion in defense spending, is queued up after the Schwartz vote; it cleared the Armed Services Committee on a narrow 18-9 party-line vote.