The House and Senate are in session this week before a scheduled recess next week. This week the House could consider the Senate-passed FY2026 budget resolution paving the way for a narrow budget reconciliation bill to provide multi-year funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies of the Department of Homeland Security, though there are differing opinions among Republicans about whether to keep the reconciliation bill narrow or broaden it to address affordability issues.

The other option would be to address affordability and other economic issues in a third Republicans-only bill that could include provisions related to the SAVE America Act voter ID bill, defense funding, and other GOP priorities. This approach is being advocated by Republican leaders in the House and Senate but is facing pushback from key House committee chairs and conservatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) this week may detail policies he hopes to include in a Reconciliation 3.0 bill. On Fox Business "Mornings with Maria" April 24, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) suggested that a follow-on bill would be the most promising vehicle for more defense spending, saying, "the third reconciliation process that Speaker Johnson talked about, we've also been discussing in the Senate as well. That is probably the most prime opportunity."

Progress toward the reconciliation package may encourage the House to vote on a Senate-passed bill to provide the remainder of DHS funding, aside from ICE and CBP. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said on Fox "Sunday Morning Futures" April 26, "We need to be back in Washington on Monday or Tuesday. And I think it should be Monday. Pass the bills … There's a bill in the House of Representatives that funds all of Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. Let's at least start taking things off the table. Get it funded."

Tax — If there are policy add-ons to this reconciliation bill or a follow-on bill, or a bipartisan bill after the elections, one new-starter tax issue that could be evolving as a potential candidate for inclusion is cryptocurrency tax legislation. Punchbowl News on April 26 reported Chairman Smith as saying he's close to finalizing a bill and a markup will be held soon. "We're at the 1-yard line," he said. The issue could possibly be bipartisan — Reps. Max Miller (R-OH) and Steven Horsford (D-NV) have together put forward a proposal — but the report said Chairman Smith is still having discussions with Democrats.

Federal Reserve — Kevin Warsh's path to becoming the next chairman of the Federal Reserve cleared up considerably on Friday (April 24) when Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C., announced that her office would no longer pursue a criminal investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the central bank's renovation project, because the Fed's inspector general was undertaking its own probe. Pirro's attempt to serve Powell and the Fed with subpoenas was quashed by a federal judge last month, but the Justice Department has appealed his ruling. Banking Committee member Thom Tillis (R-NC) had vowed to block Warsh's nomination from being advanced by the committee unless the DOJ reversed course and abandoned the investigation. In a post on the X platform Friday, Pirro said, "The [inspector general] has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers. Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry." She warned, however, "that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so."

The Banking Committee quickly scheduled a vote on Warsh's nomination for this Wednesday (April 29). In a statement Sunday, Senator Tillis said, "I have been clear from the start: the U.S. Attorney's Office criminal investigation into Chair Powell was a serious threat to the Fed's independence, and it needed to end before I could support Kevin Warsh's confirmation … I take the Department of Justice at its word: the investigation is closed, and any appeal of Judge [James] Boasberg's ruling will be with respect to legal principles and not for the purpose of reissuing subpoenas. Only a criminal referral from the inspector general would cause a reopening of the investigation." Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Tillis said, "I have been assured by the [DOJ] that that appeal is simply to challenge the basis for judging on the motion to quash the subpoenas. It would not in any way constitute a basis for reopening the investigation."

Warsh is now expected to advance to the Senate floor and almost-certain confirmation. While Powell is now expected to step down from the Fed chairmanship when his term ends in May, it remains uncertain whether he will also leave his seat on the Board of Governors, whose term doesn't expire until January 2028. Speculation has suggested that Powell could remain on the board if he did not believe the DOJ episode was completely over.

Schedule — There are several Ways and Means Committee bills on the House suspension calendar to be voted on beginning at 6:30 p.m. this evening:

• H.R. 4930, to expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade, by Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT)
• H.R. 6506, Taxpayer Due Process Enhancement Act addressing collection due process proceedings, by Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX)
• H.R. 6956, BARCODE Efficiency Act, to require a scannable code on certain tax returns, by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL)
• H.R. 7971, Taxpayer Experience Improvement Act, to boost IRS customer service policies, by Rep. Dave Schweikert (R-AZ)
• H.R. 7959, IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act, to revise the standard for review of whistleblower awards in the Tax Court and allow whistleblowers anonymity in proceedings, by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA)
• H.R. 6495, Taxpayer Notification and Privacy Act, to expand IRS notice requirements for contacting a third party (e.g., employer or bank) for information related to a taxpayer's federal tax liability, by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL)
• H.R. 5366, Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act, under which "qualified net disaster losses" would be deductible to the extent they exceed $500 per casualty and without regard to whether aggregate net personal casualty losses exceed 10% of a taxpayer's adjusted gross income, by Rep. Steube
• H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act, by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
• H.R. 5334, SEED Act of 2025, to allow early-childhood educators to deduct classroom expenses from their taxable income, by Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)
• H.R. 6903, Ensuring Children Receive Support Act, by Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX)
• H.R. 6431, New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act, to increase the percentage of individuals who may participate in a Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program, by Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH)

On Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m., the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing with health system CEOs.

The Senate is back in session today (Monday, April 27). A nomination vote for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is set for 5:30 p.m. Both chambers may also consider Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization legislation. And King Charles III will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, on the heels of President Trump April 23 saying that the US could put tariffs on UK goods if the current UK DST is not eliminated.

Trade - On April 28-29, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will hold a public hearing on its Section 301 "investigations into 60 economies' acts, policies, and practices related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor." The hearing agenda includes 60 witnesses across industries, as well as foreign governments. According to USTR, the hearings will not be live-streamed, although a "full transcript of the hearings will be posted on ustr.gov after the hearings."