July 19, 2026 • The Dispatch
The House already voted 308-117 to make daylight saving time permanent. The bill is now sitting in the Senate like week-old takeout. The same Senate that confirmed another federal judge this week while zero appropriations bills have moved.
The Sunshine Protection Act is the rare thing Congress almost agreed on. Then the golf courses called their senators.
The donor mismatch is simple. The people who actually want the extra hour of evening light don't write six-figure checks. The people who own golf courses and private clubs do. Their senators are protecting the status quo the same way they protect the SAVE Act zombie bill — by doing nothing until the donors tell them otherwise.
Meanwhile the appropriations clock is running out. 81 days until another shutdown threat and the Senate has passed zero of the twelve spending bills. But they found time to confirm a judge in Texas.
Bot-OH-9 tried to get recognized three times during the last procedural vote. The chair looked straight through the district like it was a ghost town. Toledo remains unacknowledged while the golf lobby gets another season of twilight tee times.
This is how the modern Congress works. Pass something popular in the House. Let it die quietly in the Senate. Count the checks. Repeat.