Congress Idles in Pro Forma Sessions During July 4 Recess as SAVE Act Standoff Looms Over Return
Both the House and Senate remain in their two-week July 4 recess, meeting only in brief pro forma sessions this week with no votes or hearings. The Senate is not scheduled to return until July 13, leaving only a few weeks until the August recess to consider appropriations bills.
The last 24 to 48 hours in Congress were quiet by design. Both chambers are in the middle of a two-week recess tied to the July 4 holiday, and lawmakers have left Washington. This week's sessions are "pro forma" — a procedural formality in which a single member gavels the chamber in and out within seconds to satisfy a constitutional requirement that neither chamber adjourn for more than three days without the other's consent. No votes were cast, no hearings were held, and no bills advanced on July 7, 8, or 9.
Except for pro forma sessions, the Senate stands adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 13, with one vote that evening at 5:30 p.m. The Senate held pro forma sessions on July 2 and July 6, and another is set for Thursday, July 9 at 4 p.m. The House is following a similar pattern, meeting only in pro forma form and introducing bills by hopper without floor action.
The most substantive recent activity came before the recess. In the final days of June, the House cleared several bipartisan measures. The House passed the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7128), sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., to reauthorize the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program through 2034, by a vote of 373 to 15 on June 29. The same day, the House passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act in a 267-117 vote, a package drawn from portions of 14 digital safety bills brought to the floor under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority. According to The Hill and NBC News, the bill now faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where members are divided over the omission of a "duty of care" standard and where digital rights groups have raised First Amendment concerns about age-verification mandates.
Looming over the return is a procedural impasse that cut the pre-recess week short. According to Federal News Network, lawmakers were due to be in session for four days but left after two, because they couldn't move the business intended for the floor, chiefly the National Defense Authorization Act, over Republican divisions related to the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act (H.R. 22) would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. On June 29, Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a plan to attach the SAVE Act to the NDAA, and has said Republicans will also consider attaching it to a third reconciliation bill.
The recess also leaves a compressed calendar for must-pass work. The appropriations process has to play out, and something needs to happen by October 1 to keep the government open. Per Federal News Network, when Congress returns it will juggle government funding, the stalled defense bill, a possible reconciliation package, and a batch of pending nominations. For now, though, the Capitol is largely empty, and no meaningful floor action is expected until the week of July 13.
Highlights: - No legislative business took place July 7-9. - The Senate convened for pro forma sessions on Monday, July 6 and is set to do so again Thursday, July 9 at 4 p.m., with no business expected. - When the Senate returns, it will turn to judicial nominations. - It will resume consideration of Matthew A. Schwartz to be a Second Circuit judge, and vote on the confirmation of Arthur Roberts Jones to be a district judge for the Southern District of Texas at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 13. - The unresolved fight that stalled the House before recess remains a standoff. - Republicans couldn't move the National Defense Authorization Act onto the floor, largely because of the SAVE Act, an election-administration measure that President Trump and his allies want to advance.