What Congress Actually Did in the First Half of 2026

America turns 250 this weekend. It feels like a fair moment to ask a plain question: what did Congress actually do in the first six months of 2026? Not the cable-news version — the record.

The honest numbers

Of the 732 bills NewsClear currently tracks, 617 — about 84 percent — are sitting in committee. That sounds like failure, but it is mostly how the system is designed to work: committees are where proposals get studied, amended, and quietly set aside. Seventeen tracked bills crossed the full finish line and became law in the first half of the year.

The big one passed by three votes

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 — the bill funding the federal government — cleared the House 217–214 and the Senate 71–29. Three House votes were the difference. If you ever wanted a reason to know how your own representative voted, that margin is it.

The tightest vote of the year (so far)

The Secure America Act passed the House 214–212 in June — a two-vote margin. Tap the card for the plain-language summary and the strongest arguments made on each side. NewsClear does not pick a winner; it shows you both cases.

The quiet ones

Not everything is a knife fight. Lulu's Law passed the House 401–6 and cleared the Senate by unanimous consent. Several other new 2026 laws — a veterans medical facility authorization, the Medal of Sacrifice Act — passed by voice vote or unanimous consent: broad agreement, no recorded tally, no headlines. Most lawmaking is quieter than the news suggests.

See the record yourself

Every bill on NewsClear gets a plain-language summary, the dollar figures pulled from the actual bill text, the recorded vote per chamber with links to the official record, and the case for and against — attributed, never editorialized. Free, no account needed. Happy Fourth.

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