Assembling the combination of pieces that can get essentially all Republicans in Congress on board for the budget reconciliation process that Republicans want to use to extend Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions expiring at the end of 2025 continues. Semafor reported the objections of Finance Committee members Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose doubts were reported previously, and Todd Young (R-IN) to a current policy baseline, which doesn't count the cost of extending tax cuts and is seen as the best opportunity to make expiring provisions permanent. "Cassidy is worried about keeping interest rates low and Young is 'pushing for the most fiscally responsible approach to ensure sustained economic growth,' according to a spokesperson," the story said. Support for making TCJA provisions permanent through a current policy baseline is widespread among Senate Republicans, and some Finance members formalized in a letter the demand that they will accept nothing less than permanent provisions.

"It's not clear at this point at least how we might proceed on that. … Part of it will be determined by making sure all our members are on board with that idea and concept," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said in a Politico story. A current policy baseline hasn't been used in reconciliation, and advocates mostly point to the precedent of using the approach for the extension of the Bush tax cuts at the end of 2012, but that was in a bipartisan bill outside of the budget reconciliation process. Punchbowl News this morning reported "the GOP would be charting a new course" with the approach, based on a Joint Committee on Taxation letter to Senate Democrats that said a current law baseline is the default for JCT estimates but members asked for current policy estimates ahead of the 2012 bill.

Government funding — With the expiration of government funding looming on March 14, next week will be pivotal for preventing a shutdown. A "clean" continuing resolution (CR) that most or all Republicans may need to support for it to pass — Democrats are opposed to a yearlong CR due to concerns about the Administration's scrutiny of spending and the federal workforce, and spending levels not being adhered to — is expected to be released today or over the weekend for a House vote on Tuesday. Some conservative Republicans in the 218-214 GOP-led House oppose CRs as a matter of principle. "Conservatives will love this Bill, because it sets us up to cut Taxes and Spending in Reconciliation, all while effectively FREEZING Spending this year," President Trump posted. At least eight Democrats will need to vote for the measure to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the 53-47 Senate. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) are expected to oppose on the Republican side.

Health care — Politico reported March 6 that the CR "is expected to include measures to avert cuts in pay for doctors treating Medicare patients and extend eased Medicare telehealth rules," but the provisions may be relatively narrow.

Trade — The President March 5 delayed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico (10% on Canada energy resources) for automobile imports, then on March 6 delayed the tariffs for all products covered under the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement. The New York Times reported: "President Trump signed executive orders suspending new tariffs on many imports from Mexico and Canada, two days after he imposed sweeping levies of 25 percent on two of America's closest economic partners. The exemptions, on goods covered by the trilateral trade pact Mr. Trump signed in his first term, were a whipsaw reversal that followed days of economic turmoil." President Trump said the agreement to delay the tariffs lasts until April 2, after the America First Trade Policy review is completed, the reciprocal tariffs review gets underway, and broader auto and chips tariffs may be announced.

Of the USMCA-based delay, the Wall Street Journal said, "That is less straightforward than it might seem, as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement sets forth an intricate and complex set of rules governing trade among the three countries. Thursday's turnabout has trade experts and lawyers rushing to determine exactly what goods will be subject to higher tariffs, let alone businesses that have skin in the game."

Treasury — The March 6 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Michael Faulkender to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury included discussion of IRS technology and staffing concerns, as well as global tax issues. Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) raised concerns about federal government personnel cuts, including up to 50% of the IRS workforce, as well as about the future of clean energy tax credits. Faulkender said the government should "not put a thumb on the scale when it comes to the source of energy that any particular locality chooses to power itself with." Senator Wyden responded, "The law specifically stipulates technological neutrality, so nobody's putting their thumb on the scale and basically, what we're saying is let's give science a chance to come up with new approaches, and that's why we have technological neutrality. I hope that you'll look at it again."

Some Republicans raised issues related to the OECD-led global tax agreement. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said, "the OECD's Pillar 1, Pillar 2, the GMT — you're looking at U.S. companies paying nearly 40 percent of the burden when it comes to the Pillar 2 taxes, and you've got … [state-owned companies in other countries] paying nothing, and of course, this hurts us, and also some countries that are putting in place DSTs. Again, that is something else that hurts us, it disadvantaged us. Talk about what you can do to reassert U.S. leadership on the global stage in dealing with these unfair taxes."

Faulkender said, "Pillar 1, looking at digital service taxes at the OECD. Pillar 2, the global minimum tax. The concern we have is that both of them disproportionately targeted American firms [and] that there are not enough safeguards in there in those negotiations to recognize the tax structure that we have in the United States. That's why the President issued an executive order calling on Treasury to reevaluate our participation in these OECD negotiations and to make sure that … United States firms are not disproportionately discriminated against in the way that other countries tax US multinational activities in those countries."

Congress — On March 5, Ways & Means member Carol Miller (R-WV) reintroduced the Saving Gig Economy Taxpayers Act (H.R. 1882) to restore the 1099-K threshold level of $600 back to the original $20,000 and 200 transactions, repealing the change enacted under the American Rescue Plan Act.

On March 6, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) introduced the Audio-Only Telehealth Access Act (H.R. 1899) to make Medicare's coverage of audio-only telehealth services permanent.

The House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee has set a hearing, "After the Hospital: Ensuring Access to Quality Post-Acute Care," for Tuesday, March 11 at 2 p.m.