Roger Wicker

Congress has left town for the 4th of July recess week. As the jet fumes fade, the heat is up in the swamp with temperatures expected in the high 90s. We hope your air conditioner is functioning properly.

Before lawmakers left, the Senate passed several appropriations bills, but the process could slow as the chamber’s focus will presumably shift toward a possible Supreme Court nominee. (President Donald Trump is reportedly considering names now.)

We’re All Caps at Roll Call this Friday. We captured some of the celebrations Thursday night of the Washington Capitals’ defeat of the Las Vegas Knights to win the Stanley Cup.

Also this week, there were several foodie activities on the Hill, a large moose in the Senate’s Hart Building for the Experience New Hampshire event put on by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and a look at the ducks on the National Mall (if you don’t know the history of the ducks in the nation’s capital, read this and watch this).

It’s the first Seersucker Thursday in the Senate for 2018.

The tradition of wearing these lighter-fabric suits re-emerged in the late 1990s at the urging of former Majority Leader Trent Lott. The Mississippi Republican wanted to show that “the Senate isn’t just a bunch of dour folks wearing dark suits and — in the case of men — red or blue ties,” according to the Senate historian.

Geoffrey Starks, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, may need a partner on the road to Senate confirmation: FCC member Brendan Carr, whose renomination has been delayed since January.

Trump announced over the weekend that he would nominate Starks, a candidate recommended by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., to replace Mignon Clyburn. Clyburn, who is the daughter of Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., said in April that she wants to step aside in the near future after serving more than eight years on the panel.

A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that arbitration clauses in employment contracts can prevent workers from pursuing class-action lawsuits on minimum wage and overtime disputes, prompting some justices to call for congressional action to protect workers’ rights.

In the 5-4 opinion, the conservative justices sided with corporate interests to find that Congress, in a 1925 law, instructed federal courts to enforce arbitration agreements according to their own terms. That includes terms that require individual — and not class — proceedings.

The U.S. military — together with French and British forces — struck three targets inside Syria on Friday night, just days after Bashar Assad’s government allegedly carried out a chemical attack on a Damascus suburb and amid new U.S.-Russia tensions.

In a televised address, President Donald Trump announced that strikes against Assad's forces were “now underway.”

Democratic lawmakers see a “desperate” Donald Trump lashing out at special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Republicans are split, with some defending a frustrated president and others warning him to calm down.

Members of Trump’s own party had little desire to spotlight the Monday evening rant in which he slammed the Mueller-led Justice Department probe into Russia’s 2016 election meddling and possible collusion with his campaign.

President Donald Trump may be forced to change his mind — again. But this time, an about-face on Syria would likely bring accolades from many lawmakers who have been frustrated by his ever-shifting stances.

Another example of Trump going off course only to return to it days later could emerge early this week with the situation in Syria. Reports of a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military on the rebel-held area of Douma might prompt Trump to alter his stance of pulling U.S. forces from the war-torn country.

A fourth candidate has declared his intention to run for former Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran’s seat in the November special election.

Jason Shelton, the Democratic mayor of Tupelo, announced his bid for Cochran’s seat Tuesday on WTVA 9 News. It’s his first run for statewide office.