Congress Quiet Over the Weekend as House Recesses Until August 31, Senate Returns Monday
Both chambers were essentially dark over the weekend of July 25-26, with the House gone for a five-week recess and the Senate adjourned until Monday afternoon. The most recent notable action came Thursday and Friday, when the House cleared several partisan priority bills before leaving town and the Senate lined up a bipartisan Russia-Iran sanctions package for its final pre-recess sprint.
Congress did little over the weekend of July 25-26. The House has left Washington entirely. The House is now out until August 31st, ostensibly for a "district work period" and campaigning, while the Senate will remain in town for the next two weeks. The Senate wrapped up a short Friday session and, by unanimous consent, adjourned at 4:58 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 2026. Before leaving, senators processed judicial and ambassadorial nominations and, in a routine bit of housekeeping, agreed to a resolution from Sen. Barrasso designating July 25, 2026, as "National Day of the American Cowboy."
The substantive action came earlier in the week. According to Roll Call, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defied expectations and kept his fractured conference together to pass several priority items before House members left on Thursday to begin a five-week recess. Among them was the annual defense policy bill. C-SPAN's vote records show the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 by a vote of 216-212. The House also took a first budget step: it adopted a GOP-backed budget resolution along party lines on Wednesday, taking the first step toward passing a $95 billion reconciliation package focused mostly on the Iran war.
On foreign policy, the two chambers split. The House for a second time voted to formally call on Trump to end the war in Iran, approving 214-208 a nonbinding resolution by Rep. Pramila Jayapal. But Senate Democrats fell just a few votes short on a similar push, when the chamber voted down a procedural motion to discharge a joint resolution led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen. Although the chambers split on success, the votes indicated that political pressure on the White House to exit the war is increasing. These measures are nonbinding, meaning they express Congress's opinion but carry no force of law.
The House also acted on congressional stock trading. It approved a bill that would rein in members' own ability to trade stocks, though the popular idea fell to a party-line vote; the GOP-backed measure would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from buying new stocks. Much of the House's output now stalls, as passage requires the Senate to act too.
Looking ahead, the Senate's marquee task is a long-stalled sanctions package. The bill, titled the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026, would penalize countries that continue to import Russian oil and natural gas, aiming to choke off a revenue stream Russia uses to fund its war against Ukraine. The measure is named for the South Carolina Republican who died earlier this month. Sen. Darline Graham, appointed to replace her brother, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal officially introduced the revised legislation on July 16. Per Punchbowl News, Senate leaders are nearing an agreement to vote on the revised bill before leaving for the August recess. Timing is tight. Thune faces a long list of legislation and confirmations he wants to complete before senators leave in early August, including Jay Clayton for director of national intelligence and Todd Blanche for attorney general.
Roll-call activity is expected to resume when the Senate reconvenes Monday afternoon. The House does not return until the end of August.
Highlights: - The House passed the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act 216-212 and adopted a GOP budget resolution 216-214 on July 22, both largely along party lines, before adjourning until August 31. - The House voted 214-208 to approve a nonbinding concurrent resolution by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., formally calling on Trump to end the war in Iran - ; a parallel Senate effort led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., fell short. - Thune revealed on July 23 that Iran was being added to a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, known as the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 - , which Senate leaders hope to pass before the August break.