The Senate is beginning consideration of the SAVE America Act voter ID bill that President Trump has demanded be enacted before he will sign any other legislation, following a procedural vote yesterday. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said the Senate would debate the bill on the floor in the next few days, "and we'll look forward to putting the Democrats on record and showing just the lack of common sense that they apply to some of these basic issues where the American people agree with us."

Asked following the regular Tuesday policy lunches about why he is putting the bill on the floor when Republicans almost certainly won't have 60 votes to end debate, and may not even have a 51-vote simple majority on the bill, Leader Thune said, "I think it's an important debate to have because it is an issue that is at the very core of elections in this country." He enumerated other legislation that could follow on the Senate agenda, including potentially a war funding supplemental, a farm bill, permitting reform, possibly market structure legislation dealing with digital assets, and a highway bill.

Democrats were critical of the Senate spending time on the bill, with Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saying March 17, if "Republicans want to bog down the Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready." Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) quipped that the chamber should instead consider the SAVE America Money Act, because voters are more concerned with gas, grocery and electricity prices.

Trade — The March 17 House Ways and Means Trade subpanel hearing on "Advancing America's Interests at the World Trade Organization's 14th Ministerial Conference" largely focused on reform of the WTO and e-commerce and related issues. Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith (R-NE) said that the WTO "still has a critical role to play in our global trade relationships," but the requirement for consensus-based decisions impedes priorities like a stronger agriculture agreement or developing standards for emerging industries.

Ranking Member Linda Sánchez (D-CA) said the MC14 conference, to be held March 26-29 in Cameroon, ministers are likely to confront the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, which she supports extending permanently "because it strengthens American innovation and helps ensure that U.S. entrepreneurs, especially small businesses, can compete globally."

Witnesses noted US advocacy of WTO reform over the past decade, including on dispute settlement, "developing country" status, and most-favored nation (MFN) status. The President's 2026 Trade Policy Agenda said that at the MC14 conference, the US will seek permanent extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and, at the conference and beyond, encourage a reorientation of the WTO's negotiating function and urge reassessment of the MFN principle.

A technology group witness said that US priorities for MC14 include sustaining the WTO e-commerce customs duty moratorium, advancing the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce, and continuing to advocate for high-standard global intellectual property rules. Full Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said the Trump administration has been breaking down barriers to exports and achieved huge wins, and he expressed support for a permanent moratorium on e-commerce tariffs, which soon expires. "It is critical that we settle this once and for all," he said. Witnesses also suggested it is important for the US to rejoin negotiations on e-commerce, express how damaging European data policies are for US companies, and maybe open a Section 301 investigation against the European Union and say the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and digital services taxes (DST) are discriminatory.

Some Democrats on the Committee suggested that, including the Section 301 investigations announced last week, the Administration is perhaps conducting too many such investigations and too quickly.

Tax — Meanwhile, Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) was cited as re-upping his call for the US to combat DSTs — an issue he has been consistently drawing attention to since at least July 2025, shortly after enactment of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" — and saying a resolution against DSTs will be reintroduced in the House. "This really is one of those few bipartisan areas," Estes said at an event hosted by conservative groups, the Bloomberg Daily Tax Report said. "What we plan to do with that resolution is intentionally remind governments that we have every tool available."

Health — Today (Wednesday, March 18) at 2 p.m., the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee is holding a hearing on "Improving Kidney Health Through Better Prevention and Innovative Treatment."

Banking - On Thursday (March 19), the Federal Reserve Board is scheduled to vote to finalize the US version of the "Basel III Endgame" bank capital rules, a global capital agreement first negotiated in 2017 that 20 other nations have already implemented. Under the leadership of Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, the rules are widely expected to be more industry-friendly than the 2023 proposal drafted under then-vice chair Michael Barr. While the banking industry generally panned the Barr proposal, the final version — as previewed by Bowman on a few occasions — will likely modestly reduce capital requirements for many banks compared with the Biden-era proposal.

Required capital for lending activities is expected to be moderately eased, with a streamlined capital framework replacing the Fed's previous dual-track calculations. Larger banks are expected to get a slight increase in capital requirements, which could be offset by other parts of the rule that recalibrate key elements like the G-SIB surcharge (for the group of eight U.S. global systemically important banks). Other parts of the rule are expected to focus on "right-sizing" required capital to actual risk rather than increasing aggregate capital. The FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will also have to adopt versions of the Fed's Basel III rules for the banks they supervise.

Friday March 20 is the EY Webcast, "EY Center for Tax Policy monthly update - March 2026." Register.