WASHINGTON — Congress left town for the Independence Day district work period after a busy pre-recess stretch that saw the Senate turn back another challenge to the administration’s Iran policy, the House Oversight Committee escalate its Jeffrey Epstein records investigation, and a bipartisan housing-supply bill clear both chambers. With the House not scheduled to vote again until the week of July 13 and the Senate holding only pro forma sessions this week, the following digest reviews the most consequential recorded actions and the votes and hearings now queued for lawmakers’ return.
1. Senate again declines to advance an Iran war powers resolution
On June 24, the Senate rejected a motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 185, a joint resolution that would have directed the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from “hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.” The official roll call shows the motion failed 47 to 50, with one senator voting present and two not voting.
The tally largely tracked party lines, but not entirely. Records show Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska again crossed over to support proceeding, while Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman voted with Republicans to block it. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted present, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not vote. The vote leaves the resolution parked; a motion to proceed that fails cannot ripen into passage without further action.
The June 24 vote was not an isolated event. According to the Senate’s roll call records, the chamber has declined to advance similar Iran-focused war powers measures repeatedly in 2026 — including votes on March 4, March 18, March 24 and April 15 — each rejected by comparable margins in the high-40s. The recurring pattern underscores a persistent institutional dispute over the scope of congressional authority as U.S.-Iran hostilities continue, a separation-of-powers question likely to resurface when the Senate reconvenes.
2. House Oversight escalates its Epstein records investigation
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., intensified its investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein’s network. On June 26, former Apollo Global Management chief executive Leon Black appeared before the panel and, according to CNBC, declined to answer certain questions about non-disclosure agreements. Comer said afterward that the committee had issued two subpoenas to Black — one for the NDAs to which he is a party and one compelling a deposition — and that Black left the interview.
The committee has cast a wide net. Committee releases indicate it has subpoenaed former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with former U.S. attorneys general and FBI directors, seeking records connected to Epstein. The panel earlier advanced House Report 119-469, a resolution recommending that the House find Hillary Clinton in contempt for non-compliance with a subpoena; the committee subsequently announced the Clintons had agreed to sit for depositions.
These are investigative steps, not findings. Being named in a subpoena or asked to testify is not evidence of wrongdoing, and none of the individuals identified has been charged in connection with the committee’s inquiry. Representatives for the witnesses have generally disputed the need for their testimony in public statements, and all parties retain the right to contest the subpoenas. The committee’s document demands and scheduled depositions remain ongoing.
3. Cabinet officials field questions on the Iran conflict
The war powers votes have unfolded alongside a series of congressional appearances by senior national-security officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — his first public testimony since the Iran conflict began earlier this year — and appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the administration’s foreign-policy agenda, according to C-SPAN’s hearing record. Coverage of the sessions indicated lawmakers pressed for detail on the status of negotiations with Tehran.
Defense officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, also faced questioning on the defense budget and the conflict. The hearings — searchable through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — represent the primary venue through which Congress is exercising oversight of an ongoing military engagement, and they help explain why war powers resolutions have returned to the floor with such regularity. Additional briefings are expected once both chambers return.
4. Judicial confirmations continue at a steady clip
The Senate maintained its pace on judicial nominations in the final days before recess. According to the Senate Daily Press schedule, the chamber took up cloture and confirmation votes on John George Edward Marck for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and Michael J. Hendershot for the Northern District of Ohio, and teed up cloture on Arthur Roberts Jones, also for the Southern District of Texas.
The confirmation calendar resumes immediately upon the Senate’s return. Records indicate the chamber is set to take up two appellate nominees the week of July 13 — Matthew A. Schwartz for the Second Circuit and Daniel Desmond Domenico for the Tenth Circuit — along with the confirmation vote on Jones. Circuit-court seats carry outsized weight because those courts issue final rulings in the vast majority of federal appeals, making the coming week a notable one for the composition of the federal bench.
5. Bipartisan housing-supply bill clears Congress
In a rare bipartisan achievement, both chambers approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), legislation aimed at increasing the nation’s housing supply. The measure moved through an extended reconciliation between the chambers: the Senate first passed its substitute version 89 to 10 in March, the House revised it in May, and both chambers cleared a final compromise in late June by wide bipartisan margins, according to congressional records. The bill now awaits the President’s signature.
The legislation reflected cross-party negotiation, with House Financial Services Committee members from both parties claiming credit for the final package. Its lopsided vote totals stand in contrast to the party-line divisions that have characterized much of the session, and supporters framed it as evidence that housing affordability remains an area of potential compromise. The specific provisions and their fiscal effects will warrant continued scrutiny as implementation begins.
6. FY26 funding is complete; attention turns to FY27 and the deficit
With all twelve fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills enacted earlier this year — a process the House Appropriations Committee completed with passage of H.R. 7148 and H.R. 7147 — lawmakers have pivoted to the next cycle. The committee’s FY27 markup schedule shows subcommittee and full-committee action advancing through June, including work on the Labor-HHS, Homeland Security and Defense measures, setting up floor fights in the second half of the year.
That work proceeds against a sobering fiscal backdrop. The Congressional Budget Office’s Budget and Economic Outlook projects a fiscal year 2026 deficit of roughly $1.9 trillion — about 5.8 percent of gross domestic product — and estimates that federal debt held by the public will rise to 120 percent of GDP by 2036, surpassing the post-World War II record. In a related analysis published June 30, CBO examined the spending proposals in the President’s 2027 budget. Those figures are likely to feature prominently in the appropriations debates ahead.
Looking ahead
Both chambers are out this week for the Independence Day district work period. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene the week of July 13, opening with the judicial confirmations noted above; the House returns on a similar timeline. Beyond nominations, the unresolved war powers question, the Oversight Committee’s July deposition schedule, and the opening rounds of the FY27 appropriations process are all positioned to shape the July agenda. The CBO’s deficit and debt projections will provide the fiscal frame for much of that work.
On the accountability beat
Several threads bear watching for readers focused on government oversight and transparency. The House Oversight Committee’s Epstein-related subpoenas — including a deposition schedule extending into mid-July — will test the committee’s reach and the responsiveness of the witnesses it has summoned; those proceedings remain ongoing, and no findings have been issued. Congress’s repeated war powers votes, meanwhile, keep alive a fundamental constitutional question about who authorizes the use of force, and the CBO’s debt trajectory raises long-term accountability questions that transcend any single funding bill. The Investigative Journal will track each of these as lawmakers return to Washington.
This digest is compiled from public records, including official roll call votes, committee documents, published hearing schedules and Congressional Budget Office reports. Where reporting relies on secondary sources, those outlets are attributed. Individuals named in ongoing investigations are presumed to have committed no wrongdoing absent formal findings, and all retain the right to respond.