House Passes Permanent Daylight Saving Time as Senate Democrats Block $1.15 Trillion Defense Bill Over Iran War
The House on July 14 voted 308-117 to make daylight saving time permanent and passed a bill barring firearm-specific payment codes, while Senate Democrats blocked the annual defense authorization bill in protest of President Trump's ongoing war against Iran.
The House had a busy legislative day Tuesday, clearing several bills and advancing a rule that teed up more. The US House voted Tuesday to pass a measure to enact year-round Daylight Saving Time across the country; the House vote was 308 to 117. The bill, H.R. 139, is titled the Sunshine Protection Act. It will now head to the Senate for approval before going to the president for his signature — though its chances in the upper chamber remain unclear.
The measure would end the twice-yearly clock change. Proponents argue it would spare Americans from having to change their clocks, disrupting young children's sleep schedules and arguably causing more seasonal depression; but detractors say it could have economic consequences, particularly for farmers who would have to wrestle with later sunrises. Support does not fall along party lines. Congress has flirted with the idea before: in 2022, the Senate passed a version of a daylight saving time bill, but it did not get a floor vote in the House, and a bipartisan group of senators in 2025 sought unanimous consent to pass a similar measure but were thwarted by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
The House also passed H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. The U.S. House passed H.R. 1181 with a vote of 221 to 201; the bill prohibits payment card networks from requiring firearm-specific merchant category codes, blocking the creation of a purchase database. Merchant category codes are four-digit identifiers payment processors use to classify businesses. The creation of a distinct code for gun stores raised concerns that financial institutions could use payment data to monitor, flag, and track lawful firearm purchases, creating a backdoor gun registry without congressional authorization. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., now moves to the Senate. All four measures were brought up under a rule, H. Res. 1423, that passed narrowly, 215-211.
In the Senate, the annual defense bill hit a wall. The Senate voted 50-46 on Tuesday, almost entirely along party lines, against opening debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, in a rare setback for one of the legislature's few must-pass pieces of legislation. The motion needed 60 votes to advance. According to the AP, Senate Democrats blocked a $1 trillion annual defense bill, refusing to advance the bipartisan package that would substantially increase Pentagon spending, including a pay raise for the troops, in protest of President Trump's war against Iran. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Democrats to oppose the bill, calling it "a permission slip" for the Trump administration to continue military operations against Iran without congressional oversight. Some Democrats also objected to provisions deepening US military and intelligence cooperation with Israel and to the record size of the Pentagon budget.
A procedural note: by a vote of 50-46, the Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 4784, and Leader Thune changed his vote to no and entered a motion to reconsider. That maneuver preserves his ability to bring the bill back up later. Republicans framed the outcome as unprecedented obstruction, while Democrats said Congress cannot advance a defense bill while ignoring the Iran conflict. Separately, the Senate confirmed judicial nominee Matthew Schwartz to the Second Circuit on a 50-45 party-line vote and honored the late Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina with tributes throughout the day.
Highlights: - The House passed H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, to make daylight saving time year-round, on a 308-117 vote; it now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain. - The Senate rejected a cloture motion to open debate on S. 4784, the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, 50-46 — an unusual failure for a normally bipartisan must-pass bill. - The House passed H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, 221-201, barring payment networks from using merchant codes that single out firearms retailers.