NDAA and Appropriations Work in the House...Unless Conservatives Revolt Again, the Senate Is in Recess Until July 13

Point of Order is a (mostly) weekly preview of key congressional activity for those with more than a passing interest in federal policy.

Look, there may not be much legislative action this week: The House was supposed to work on several bills last week, including two appropriations bills (National Security and State and Energy and Water). That didn’t happen. Yeah, the House managed to get suspensions done, but the rule bills were scrapped because of a conservative revolt. Conservatives are demanding passage of the so-called “SAVE America Act” in the Senate. The problem is that it doesn’t appear as though the Senate has 50 votes for the version of the bill that Trump prefers (proof of citizenship, voter ID, voter rolls submitted by states to the federal government, eliminating mail-in voting, and transgender culture-war issues). An amendment with these provisions was considered and rejected during the vote-a-rama on S. 2. The original version of SAVE—limited to proof of citizenship, voter ID, and voter rolls submitted by states to the federal government—does have 50 votes, but there aren’t any Democrats who will vote for cloture, which requires a three-fifths majority. There aren’t enough votes among Senate Republicans to eliminate the three-fifths requirement for cloture. Although Trump has asked House Republicans to stop tanking rules, we’ll find out this week if conservatives will fall back in line. If they don’t, the House will get the suspensions done and head out of town early for next week’s recess.

Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns today at 2:00 pm for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 pm. The House will also be in session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The last votes for the week are currently expected on Thursday. Ten (10) bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are available here.

• H.R. 8873, Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act (Ways and Means Committee)

• H.R. 5347, Health Care Efficiency Through Flexibility Act (Ways and Means Committee)

• H.R. 7128, TRIA Program Reauthorization Act (Financial Services Committee)

• H.R. 3350, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 340 East 1st Street in Tustin, California, as the “Ursula Ellen Kennedy Post Office Building”. (Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• H.R. 4662, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6444 San Fernando Road in Glendale, California, as the “Paul Ignatius Post Office”. (Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

• H.R. 7757, KIDS Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)

• H.R. 7257, Securing Community Upgrades for a Resilient Grid (SECURE Grid) Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)

• H.R. 7258, Energy Emergency Leadership Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)

• H.R. 7266, Rural and Municipal Utility Security Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)

• H.R. 7305, Energy Threat Analysis Center Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)

Bills that come to the floor under suspension of the rules require two-thirds of members present and voting for passage. This is the most common way that bills considered by the House come to the floor. Some of these bills may be passed by a voice vote, rather than a roll call vote. Most bills that come to the floor under suspension aren’t widely considered controversial, although leadership may occasionally test a bill under suspension to gauge opposition or sneak a bill through the chamber.

Rule bills: The House Rules Committee will meet today at 4:00 pm to mark up the rule providing for the consideration of the Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act, H.R. 8884; the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2027, H.R. 8800; and a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the Working Families Tax Cuts, H. Res. 1383. We’ll note that the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for FY 2027, H.R. 8595, is also on the calendar this week, but it’s covered by another rule, H.Res. 1377, which the House didn’t pass last week. The House may also consider a War Powers Resolution, H.Con.Res. 108, directing Trump to remove the United States military from hostilities with Lebanon.

House committee schedule: The full House committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.

The Senate is out: The drama between Senate Republicans and the White House obviously boiled over last week, driven primarily by the aforementioned lack of movement on the SAVE America Act. The Senate is scheduled to return on Monday, July 13.

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