Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for July 15, 2026:
GOP leaders finally unlock the House floor for business.
South Carolina Republicans jockey to succeed Graham.
The House and Senate get a Supreme Court visit.
DAYLIGHT SAVING. Is Congress really going to lock the clock? The House on Tuesday easily approved a bipartisan bill which would put the nation on permanent daylight saving time. The vote on the “Sunshine Protection Act” was 308-117, with a majority of both parties voting in favor of the plan.
PERMANENT. “Americans are tired of changing the clocks twice a year and disrupting routines,” said Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). “It’s time to stop the confusion and make life a little easier for American families,” added Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL).
OPPOSED. Of the 117 lawmakers who voted ‘No’ - what was their beef? There really wasn’t a central argument for opponents, other than concern about very late sunrise times impacting kids going to school.
VOTING NO. 14 of the 26 members in the New York delegation opposed the permanent daylight saving bill. All five members from Connecticut voted ‘No,’ plus all four from Arkansas, and both members from New Hampshire.
SUPPORT. Florida lawmakers voted 23-4 in favor of the change. “Why are we forcing families, businesses, and communities to adjust their schedules every spring and fall?” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). “The twice yearly clock change is a relic of the past that no longer reflects the way Americans live.”
SENATE. What’s the outlook in the Senate for this bill? Unlike a few years ago, when this same plan passed (unexpectedly) by unanimous consent, that won’t be repeated in 2026. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has made clear that he opposes this effort - instead, he favors making Standard Time the law of the land.
NATURAL STATE. “Congress once made Daylight Saving Time permanent. It was so unpopular that Congress repealed it less than a year later,” Cotton said in the past. His opposition is based on a familiar argument - that schools would start in the dark for several months each year.
PAST IS PROLOGUE. I just want to remind everyone that the Congress tried this before in 1973-74. It was hugely unpopular, and lawmakers repealed it after one winter. I’m not saying that we are going to have a repeat, but just know that we have been here before. Tell me what you think.
HOUSE LOGJAM. In order to vote on the daylight saving bill, House Republicans had to finally end an extended internal impasse, which had derailed work on a series of major GOP bills. After well over an hour of heated talks on the House floor, Speaker Mike Johnson finally got a procedural ‘rule’ approved yesterday, cutting a deal with the House Freedom Caucus.
BORDER BILL. Most of this fight was not about the SAVE America Act, but instead over a promise that the Speaker made weeks ago - to hold a vote on a border security bill.
MARKUP. Freedom Caucus holdouts won a promise for the House Judiciary Committee to hold a markup session next week on a new border bill. What exactly goes into that measure is still being worked out.
CHIPPED BEEF. “Congress must act to codify border security and pause or massively limit legal immigration,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said, as GOP lawmakers also suggested plans to limit birthright citizenship, and penalize sanctuary cities.
ELECTION YEAR. I’m puzzled as to why this is controversial within House GOP circles on Capitol Hill. An immigration crackdown is a free vote, because the Senate isn’t passing anything like that before the elections (or after).
DEFENSE BILL. While House Republicans finally moved forward, the Senate was mired in gridlock over a major defense bill. For the first time in 16 years, a filibuster blocked action on the start of debate for the National Defense Authorization Act, which prompted the expected round of blame game and finger pointing.
GOP. “Senate Democrats are once again playing politics with our national security instead of prioritizing the safety of the American people,” fumed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) about the NDAA filibuster. “SHAMEFUL,” tweeted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who may have forgotten that he voted to filibuster the NDAA twice in 2010.
NDAA FILIBUSTER. The vote came as the U.S. launched more military strikes against Iran, as Democrats argued the NDAA should have limits on that war. “Now is not the time to hand the President a blank check while he is waging a reckless and illegal war,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
HORMUZ TOLLS. The vote came as President Trump backed off his call for the U.S. to get a 20 percent toll from ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. “Trump is in over his head to the detriment of the entire world,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
WAR COST. Frustration about the cost of the Iran war boiled over at a hearing with President Trump’s pick for the Pentagon’s comptroller. Jules Hurst, who had been the acting comptroller, refused to offer any updated estimate on how much money had been spent by the military on the war.
MONEY. “Mr. Hurst, I’m unpersuaded by your professions of ignorance about the cost of the war,” said Sen. Angus King (I-ME). “Come on, you had to know this question was going to come up at this hearing today.” Other Democrats echoed those complaints - but got no new information.
ELECTION MESSAGE. I’m always fascinated to see what Congressional leaders decide is their best message for November - especially when that party is playing defense. For House GOP leaders, it’s clear they are going to talk about how Democrats are threatening a Communist and Socialist takeover of America.
SPEAKER. “Look, we live in dangerous times,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after a closed door House GOP meeting on Tuesday. “We’re fighting communism on our own shores, and we’re fighting evil terrorists and tyrants around the world.”
TEAM MAMDANI. As you might expect, the GOP attacks are focused on New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and some of the Democratic Socialist candidates inspired and endorsed by him. “Everybody needs to understand these crazy little mini Mamdanis who are popping up all around the country,” the Speaker said.
THERMOSTAT. When Mamdani urged people to set their air conditioning on 78 degrees during a heat wave, Republicans screamed ‘SOCIALISM!’ But it turned out that had been done by many GOP officials as well. Even so, it’s still a main talking point from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise:
“It starts where you can’t raise your temperature over 78 degrees, and then they’re going to come check and make sure you’re not raising it over 78 degrees. Then they’ll probably find you, and then they’ll probably try to put you in jail if you do it. That’s what communism is. That’s what we are raising their red flag over, because we’re not going to let that red flag fly over this United States Capitol. That’s what’s on the ballot this November.”
HEARINGS. There are two big confirmation hearings today in the Senate. Before the Judiciary Committee, Todd Blanche will testify on his nomination as Attorney General. Before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence pick Jay Clayton will be quizzed by Senators. Both could be filled with news.
NEW SENATOR. Just two days after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), his sister Darline Graham Nordone was sworn in as his replacement. The oath was administered by Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley.
FIRST DAY. One can only imagine that it was an emotional day for Nordone. She started by meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Later when the Senate was in recess, she was allowed to go on the Senate floor for a private moment - with the doors and galleries closed.
SOUTH CAROLINA. Even as Nordone took her seat in the Senate, the clock was ticking. Yesterday marked four weeks until a special August 11 GOP primary in South Carolina, where Republicans will pick someone to take Lindsey Graham’s spot on the November ballot.
PALMETTO INTRIGUE. As you might imagine, there is already a lot of jockeying among Republicans, as the Senate race could attract several members of the state’s delegation. For example, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told us that he had already asked President Trump for his endorsement.
NORMAN. What did Trump tell Norman? “He said he’s going to need some time - it’s too early,” the South Carolina Republican said. Norman isn’t the only one who might run from the state’s delegation - as Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), and maybe Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) could jump in as well. Qualifying starts next week.
SPECIAL PRIMARY. Think of it this way - this is a free opportunity for lawmakers, because you don’t have to give up your seat in the House to try to make this jump to replace Graham on the November ballot for U.S. Senate.
PALMETTO. Not everyone in the state delegation is happy with all of this maneuvering, so soon after Graham’s death. “I’ll just be honest,” Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) told Fox News. “It kind of rubbed me the wrong way.”
TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE. I understand what Timmons is saying. I also understand how Congress works. If you want to remain above the fray and not get your hands dirty - that’s fine. But you also might not be the next U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina.
ICE SHOOTINGS. After federal agents shot and killed two people in less than a week, the Department of Homeland Security has told ICE agents to temporarily avoid making most vehicle stops during immigration enforcement activities. That came as Democrats again expressed outrage about the killings in Texas and Maine.
ANGER. “This is a failure of leadership to allow ICE to continue to go on a rampage,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), who heads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Espaillat said he will lead a hearing by Democrats on Friday in Houston - where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed on July 7.
JUSTICE. “Today we are demanding justice for yet another family, another man, father, worker, who was targeted simply for driving while being a Latino man,” said Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), who joined Espaillat and others at a news conference outside the Capitol.
SENATE. “Allowing poorly trained agents to roam our streets, kick down doors without warrants, and shoot people dead in the street is state-sanctioned violence — not immigration policy,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
SGT. SCHULTZ. Maybe the most notable moment about Monday’s killing in Maine came when a reporter asked House Speaker Mike Johnson about it. “I don’t know anything about this event,” Johnson told reporters. “I was a little busy yesterday, so I’m going to reserve judgment.”
SUPREME COURT. For the first time since 2019, two Supreme Court Justices came across the street to present the Court’s budget request for the next fiscal year. Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Amy Coney Barrett made the case for more security funding - citing the increasing number of threats made against the nine justices.
BARRETT. The examples given to lawmakers about security matters were not theoretical. “I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” said Justice Barrett.
ETHICS. Lawmakers gently pressed the two justices about a tougher ethics code at the Supreme Court. “There’s just a lot of complexity,” said Barrett, who worried about who would enforce the code. “I think we would be better off with an enforcement mechanism,” said Kagan. Both agreed it would be best to have ethics rules administered by the Judicial Branch, not an outside entity.
HEARINGS. I was very happy to see Kagan and Barrett before House and Senate spending panels on Tuesday. We need more ‘regular order’ involving the three branches of government. This should be an annual ritual, not something which only happens every seven years.
HOUSING BILL. Last week, President Trump refused to sign a bipartisan package of housing affordability bills, letting it become law without his signature. Being a legislative wonk, I keep waiting for the bill to show up as a new public law. (It hasn’t happened yet.) But I found a new nerdy nugget that I’ve never seen before.
LEGISLATIVE NERD NOTE. On the Library of Congress website, the ‘Latest Action’ is noted for each bill. I’ve never seen this one - but it’s what happened since Trump refused to sign the housing package: “07/11/2026 Sent to Archivist of the United States unsigned.”
BEHIND THE SCENES. When the Library of Congress moved into its own building in 1897, Congress suddenly had three floors of unused space on the west side of the Capitol. Instead of keeping that beautiful area intact - it was chopped up into office space and committee rooms for lawmakers. This is what part of it looks like today.
MUSE OF HISTORY. July 15, 1876. As the House debated the need for federal troops along the Mexican border, Rep. Robert Smalls - a former slave - tried to make sure federal troops in his home state of South Carolina weren’t shifted to the border, worried by growing racial violence. Smalls produced a letter detailing attacks on free blacks but refused to name the author. “I will say to the gentleman if he is desirous that the name shall be given in order to have another negro killed, he will not get it from me,” Smalls said to applause.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House convenes at 10 am.
The Senate meets at 10 am.
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“Sgt. Schultz” LOL. I gotta be honest — if dredging up images of old Red Scare educational movies from the 1950s is the MAGA GOP’s entire midterm strategy, I’m here for it. Choosing to ignore the soaring costs of living impacting most Americans and our latest escalating forever war their guy started, could well be a winning strategy — for the Dems. If there’s one guy who deserves to lose his job, it’s Speaker Johnson. In his newly acquired spare time, maybe he’ll have a chance to read a newspaper and find out what’s going on.
“It starts where you can’t raise your temperature over 78 degrees..."
Wouldn't he be worried about the Commies not allowing you to LOWER your temperature UNDER 78 degrees?
Dude, you're not impressing me.