(Updated on October 1, 2024)
– Congress works less than half the year, with the House averaging 147 legislative days annually.
– Senate members have slightly more legislative days, averaging 165 days each year since 2001.
Archiv: period without parliament in parliamentary democracies (generally around six months per year / „recess“ and stuff)
Explainer: Congress backed an Iran war powers resolution. Now what?
(June 9, 2026)
However, legal experts said the issue is not settled law. No concurrent resolution under the 1973 war powers law had passed since the law was enacted.
„The executive branch will likely ignore it on constitutional grounds, and it’s not clear who might have standing to sue to enforce it,“ said Scott Anderson, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and senior editor of the online legal publication Lawfare, although he added that he expected someone would.
Democratic socialists eye 2028 White House race
(June 25, 2026)
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are eyeing a 2028 presidential bid in the wake of recent electoral successes across the country.
DSA Co-chair Ashik Siddique told The Hill in a Thursday interview that the organization has more than 100,000 members and 200 chapters across the country. “We want people to be talking proactively about what they would want to see in a presidential campaign,” he said. The organization is looking to see how voters would engage and what would motivate them, he added.
Area members of Congress face another Iran ‘war powers’ vote
When Congress returns to work in June, both the House and Senate are expected to vote on resolutions that would force Trump to stop military strikes against Iran, what’s known as a “war powers” resolution.
House GOP leaders postponed a vote on that before Memorial Day — worried that Republicans would lose that vote for a first time.
The Real Reason Mike Johnson Sent Congress Home Early
(May 21, 2026)
House Republican leaders yanked a planned vote to restrict President Trump’s ability to conduct military strikes against Iran, after it became clear that the resolution, forced to the floor by Democrats, would likely pass.
“You don’t have the votes!” Democrats shouted in a heated moment on the House floor, when Republicans moved to delay the vote until after lawmakers return from a weeklong Memorial Day recess.
Scores Arrested at Jewish-Led Protest Demanding New York Senators Vote Against Arms to Israel
Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders said Monday he will force a vote this week on legislation to block the sale of nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military. Meanwhile, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will compel a vote on an Iran war powers resolution, now that the House is back in session.
Peace Activists to „Welcome Back“ Congress As They Return from Recess as the War on Iran Continues
WASHINGTON, D.C.— CODEPINK and the DC Against Trump Agenda Coalition announced plans to “welcome back” members of Congress on April 14, coinciding with Congress‘s return from recess, to demand an immediate end to the U.S. war on Iran.
The demonstration is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of Independence Avenue SE and New Jersey Avenue SE in Washington, D.C. After the “welcome” reception, participants will flood the halls of Congress with the demands for peace. Activists will have banners that read, “No War on Iran”, “Let Cuba Live”, “Stop Arming Israel”, “Fund Communities Not War” with Palestinian, Cuban, and Lebanese flags.
“Congress has been in recess while the war rages on. It’s shameful but unsurprising,” explained CODEPINK’s Olivia DiNucci.
Senate unanimously moves to fund most of DHS, except ICE and border patrol, in rare overnight session
The agreement would fund other DHS components, such as the Transportation Security Administration and US Coast Guard, but the House will still need to act before funded agencies within the department can reopen.
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However, asked whether he believes the House will adopt the same measure to fund most of the department, Thune said, “I don’t know what the House will do.”
‘I just want to go home’: Despair settles over the Capitol as DHS deal hopes evaporate
“It looks like everybody is going to stare at each other for a little while,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday, before nodding at lawmakers’ best hope for getting a deal — their overwhelming desire to leave town.
“You know how it is around here, it’s not Thursday yet,” he said.
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One GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, summed up their feelings: “I just want to go home.”
Top Democrats Face Rising Pressure to ‘Bring the Iran War Powers Resolution to the Floor Right Now’
A spokesperson for Democrats on the committee told Common Dreams on Wednesday that Meeks was very much committed to passing a bill to “hold President Trump accountable for his reckless war of choice,” but that one could not be pursued until April 13, after the recess, because some of the necessary “yes” votes had left Washington.
Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim described this as a “pathetic” excuse. “As Trump threatens a ground invasion, Democratic members of Congress are saying they won’t do the one thing they are elected to do: Show up and vote,” he wrote on social media.
‚Everything will be over‘: Denmark’s PM says US must not annex Greenland
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says a US annexation of Greenland, a sovereign part of the Kingdom of Denmark, would mean that ‚everything would be over‘ as parliament‘s Foreign Affairs Committee was summoned to an extraordinary meeting in Copenhagen.
Congress Squanders Last Chance to Block Venezuela War Before Going on Vacation
“Americans do not want another Iraq. If we intensify hostilities in Venezuela, we have no idea what we’re walking into,” McGovern said. “At least George Bush had the decency to come to Congress for approval in 2002. Don’t the American people deserve that respect today?”
Bush in 2002 sought and received a formal authorization for his attack on Iraq. Without taking any similar steps, Trump has massed thousands of American service members in the Caribbean without formal approval.
Letter urges Prime Minister to recall Parliament over Gaza emergency
(August 18, 2025)
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to “impose immediate sanctions” on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The letter urges the Prime Minister to “act now” to exert pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
It has been signed by Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long, SDLP leader Claire Hanna, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and the convener of the party’s Holyrood group Stuart McMillan.
Politicians sign letter urging PM to ‚act now‘ over Gaza
(August 19, 2025)
Parties joining in the SDLP-led letter include Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and People Before Profit.
The letter calls for Parliament to be recalled as well as urgent diplomatic intervention and an end to arms sales to Israel.
It is understood Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will respond to the letter in due course.
NEWS: Sanders and Colleagues Move to Block Arms Sales to Israel
The Senate will vote on these resolutions when it reconvenes in November. Let me explain why these arms sales must not proceed.
Israel clearly had the right to respond to Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent Israelis and took hundreds of hostages. But Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged all-out war against the Palestinian people, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians and injuring more than 95,000 – 60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Netanyahu has bombed hospitals and schools, starved children, destroyed infrastructure and housing stock, and made life unlivable in Gaza. The United States must end its complicity in this atrocity.
Sending more weapons is not only immoral, it is also illegal. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act lay out clear requirements for the use of American weaponry – Israel has egregiously violated those rules.