Critics of the country’s largest tech companies branded the last few months “Hot Antitrust Summer” because they hoped that Congress would vote on new regulations for Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.

The legislation’s chances of passing before Labor Day melted away instead. The Senate is expected to take up one last major matter of business before its August recess, debating and voting on the Democrats’ large climate, tax and health care package.

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Sarah Miller, the executive director of the liberal American Economic Liberties Project, said that should the efforts to pass a new antitrust law in Washington fizzle, it would only make the role of agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, which sued to block Meta’s acquisition of a virtual reality company last month, and state lawmakers more important in reining in Big Tech.

“Fortunately there’s not only one sheriff in town,” she said, “although I think Congress’s ability to directly promote fairness and competition in digital markets will continue to be an essential project.”