House Clears Health Bills as It Races Toward August Recess; Senate Advances Trump Circuit Nominee Flowers
The House returned from a weekend break and passed a batch of bipartisan health-care bills on July 20 in its final scheduled week before the long August recess, while the Senate took a single evening vote to advance President Trump's nominee Benjamin Flowers to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both chambers were in session Monday, July 20, opening the last scheduled work week before Congress's extended summer break. Activity was heavier in the House, which returned from a weekend recess to move a stack of largely bipartisan measures.
In the Senate, the day's business was narrow. The Senate convened at 3:00 p.m. and adjourned at 7:59 p.m. The chamber held a single roll call vote at 5:30 p.m. on whether to advance the judicial nomination of Benjamin Flowers. The July 20 cloture vote on PN938-1 was agreed to, 43-40. Flowers, an Ohio attorney, was nominated to fill the Sixth Circuit seat being vacated by Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton. President Trump nominated Flowers to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Flowers clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court in 2014. Invoking cloture cuts off debate and clears the way for a final confirmation vote, which the Senate had not yet held. The nomination has drawn opposition from progressive advocacy groups over his record on issues including abortion and voting rights.
The House used its afternoon to clear health and oversight bills under suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure that limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority. Most measures passed by voice vote, including H.R. 1703, the Choices for Increased Mobility Act; H.R. 2715, the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act; and H.R. 2821, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0. Two bills drew recorded votes. H.R. 8823, the Putting Patients First by Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act, passed 396-0, and H.R. 4541, the EARLY Act Reauthorization, passed 394-6. The EARLY Act reauthorizes a federal breast-health education and awareness program aimed at younger women.
The pace reflects a compressed calendar. According to the Due Process Institute's congressional preview, the House expected to consider 24 bills under suspension this week, and it is scheduled to begin its August recess at the end of the week, with members not due back until Monday, Aug. 31. Leadership set a tentative last votes of the week for Thursday.
Committee work continued alongside floor action. On July 21, the House Education and Workforce Committee was set to mark up several bills, including H.R. 8781, the Title IX Clarification Act of 2026. The House Energy and Commerce Committee had a lengthy health and energy markup on its schedule, and the Senate Intelligence Committee held a closed business meeting.
Looming over the week is unfinished fiscal business. Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, and a stopgap spending measure running into December is expected to move once lawmakers return. Separately, the fate of the CLARITY Act, a major cryptocurrency regulation bill, remains uncertain in the Senate; some Democrats have objected over ethics provisions, and analysts have warned its window for pre-recess passage is narrow.
Highlights: - The Senate voted 43-40 to invoke cloture on Benjamin M. Flowers of Ohio, nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit (Record Vote 200, nomination PN938-1), teeing up a final confirmation vote. - The House passed H.R. 8823, the Putting Patients First by Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act, by 396-0 (Roll no. 251), and H.R. 4541, the EARLY Act Reauthorization, by 394-6 (Roll no. 250). - Roughly two dozen bills were queued under suspension of the rules as the House began what is scheduled to be its last week in session until Aug. 31.