Congress in July 4 Recess: Both Chambers Hold Only Pro Forma Sessions, No Votes
The House and Senate were on their weeklong July 4 recess over the last 24-48 hours, meeting only in brief pro forma sessions with no legislative business. The most consequential recent action was the House's June 30 rejection of the rule needed to bring the fiscal 2027 defense bill to the floor.
Congress was effectively idle over the past two days. Both chambers are in their weeklong July 4 recess, and the only floor activity was procedural. The Senate convened at 9:01 a.m. Monday, July 6, for a pro forma session. The House likewise met in a pro forma session at 10:30 a.m. Pro forma sessions are short, largely ceremonial meetings, often lasting under a minute, that keep a chamber technically in session without conducting business.
Regular work resumes next week. The next votes in the House are expected Monday, July 13. On the Senate side, except for pro forma sessions, the Senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on Monday, July 13th, with the chamber also convening for a pro forma session on Thursday, July 9th at 4:00 p.m. with no business expected. When senators return, the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Matthew Schwartz to be a Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, and at 5:30 p.m. will vote on confirmation of the nomination of Arthur Jones to be a District Judge for the Southern District of Texas.
The most significant recent development came just before the recess, when the annual defense policy bill stalled in the House. The rule governing debate on the FY27 NDAA (H. Res. 1398) was not agreed to by a record vote of 198-224, after the House agreed to the previous question by a record vote of 215-210, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. In the House, a "rule" must pass before a major bill can be debated, so its defeat halted floor action on H.R. 8800. A contentious element was a provision that in the engrossment of H.R. 8800, the Clerk would add the text of the SAVE America Act, as passed by the House. The SAVE Act would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote; critics argued attaching it politicized a traditionally bipartisan measure.
The underlying defense bill itself has moved on a bipartisan track. The bill was reported favorably out of committee by a 44-12 vote. The Senate is positioned to take up its own version after the break, as cloture has been filed on the motion to proceed to S.4784, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027.
Appropriations remain the other looming challenge. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, members of Congress left Capitol Hill for a weeklong July 4 recess amid ongoing disagreements on numerous key issues, including a topline spending number for defense and non-defense programs in the Senate's fiscal 2027 appropriations bills. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) have been unable to agree on topline spending levels, with Collins seeking a large defense increase and Murray pushing for a more balanced split between defense and non-defense programs. Lawmakers have until September 30 to pass all 12 FY27 spending bills or enact a continuing resolution; without either, the government would be at risk of a shutdown.
In short, the last 24-48 hours produced no substantive congressional action. The real tests — the defense authorization and the fiscal 2027 spending bills — await the return of both chambers on July 13.
Highlights: - The Senate convened at 9:01 a.m. Monday, July 6, for a pro forma session, and the House met in a pro forma session at 10:30 a.m. - — no votes were held in either chamber. - Before the break, - the rule for the FY27 NDAA (H. Res. 1398) was not agreed to by a record vote of 198-224, after the House agreed to the previous question by a record vote of 215-210, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 - , blocking floor consideration of H.R. 8800. - Cloture has been filed on the motion to proceed to S.4784, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027 - , teeing up Senate action after the recess.