Congress returns to confront must-pass defense bill, Supreme Court ethics and nomination headaches

Congress returns from its Fourth of July recess this week with growing objections to President Biden’s military policies and a looming fight in the Senate over ethics standards for the Supreme Court.

The major item up for consideration in the House is one of the few perennial must-pass bills: The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act. House conservatives are using the legislation as a vehicle to buck the Pentagon’s progressive social personnel policies, setting the stage for what could be a brutal policy fight when the measure reaches the floor as early...