Defense funding has been one potential element discussed in relation to a third Republican-only bill, to follow last year's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) and the now-signed into law Secure America Act (S. 2) to fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies separately from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). President Trump newly called for a defense funding reconciliation bill that also includes voter ID legislation in a June 10 social media post, saying: "I am hereby calling on Republicans in Congress to IMMEDIATELY advance and pass the forthcoming $350 Billion Reconciliation Bill (Recon 3.0) — which, at the request of our Great Department of War — will include THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as well. No games, no delays, and no weak compromises! Do this ASAP."

The new insistence on a third reconciliation bill could help propel the measure that has been discussed by House Republican leaders and committee chairs but more coolly received in the Senate, where longtime Republican members Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Susan Collins (R-ME), the Appropriations Committee Chair, said at a subpanel hearing this week that such a bill wasn't likely. Key Senate moderate Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has also added her name to the list of skeptical Republicans.

In addition to defense funding and the voter ID proposal, some Republicans envision that a Reconciliation 3.0 bill would include affordability proposals possibly offset with provisions to combat waste, fraud and abuse in federal safety net programs. Member groups within Congress have proposed items for potential inclusion, but there is currently no working set of proposals that has been laid out publicly, at least.

A June 11 Politico report, "Bankers want health savings accounts in reconciliation 3.0," said companies that manage HSAs want provisions to expand the accounts included in a potential Reconciliation 3.0 bill. President Trump has advocated for expanding HSAs, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) includes expansions in his Great American Healthcare Plan (H.R. 8324), and some HSA provisions in the House version of the OBBBA were dropped from the bill as enacted. The report said, "On Monday, the Republican Study Committee, a caucus in the House, met with Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel and Tom Barthold, chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation, to lay the groundwork for a third reconciliation bill."

Meanwhile, Democrats continue to lay out proposals they may pursue if they come into greater power in the currently all-Republican-controlled Washington. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Committee member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) June 11 introduced a bill to increase the stock buyback excise tax from 1% to 4%. Ranking Member Wyden and former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) — who is running again this year — introduced a similar bill in 2023, and the increase to 4% was also proposed by the Biden administration during that time, with the argument that "stock repurchases are tax-favored relative to dividends as a means of distributing corporate profits" and increasing the excise tax rate "would reduce this disparity."

"The effort revives a long-running debate over whether companies have used savings from tax cuts to help reward executives instead of investing in workers … " said a Washington Post story, "Democrats want to target companies that buy back their own stocks," posted on June 11. "The bill is not expected to make progress with Congress under Republican leadership, but the move is part of a larger effort Democrats are waging ahead of the midterms to show they are attuned to people's concerns about affordability and making companies pay their fair share."

In a press release, Senator Schumer said, "Our bill will end special treatment for buybacks and encourage companies to invest in workers, innovation and long-term growth."

Trump Accounts — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and First Lady Melania Trump on June 11 held an event focused on providing Trump Accounts to children in foster care. "This initiative will expand access to Trump Accounts for youth in foster care and provide states with new flexibility to direct existing resources toward their future, helping more young people build savings and a stronger foundation for long-term financial security and success," the Secretary said. Trump Accounts — established under the OBBBA as tax-free investment accounts for every American child with seed money for many — generally are set to launch on July 4, something that Sec. Bessent told tax-writing committees during hearings last week was a primary focus of the Treasury Department.

The accounts are being heavily promoted by Republicans, along with the OBBBA benefits for no tax on tips and no tax on overtime. A June 11 Semafor report, "Utah Republican runs on Trump Accounts," cited Ways and Means member Blake Moore (R-UT) as heavily campaigning on the Trump Accounts issue as well as "a charitable deduction change he championed in the 2025 Republican-passed tax bill, which incentivizes families that don't itemize to make small donations to their church or charities they support."

Schedule — Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Ken Kies is among the speakers at the Georgetown Law Institute of International Economic Law and International Tax Policy Forum conference today.

The House and Senate have gone out of session for the week, without addressing The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization due June 12, when a temporary 45-day patch runs out. A bipartisan measure to renew the authority became entangled with controversy over the nation's next top intelligence official. President Trump ultimately named Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration, to succeed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.

The Senate next convenes at 3:00 pm on Monday, June 15, with a vote on a judicial nomination at 5:30 p.m. The House is scheduled to be out of session next week.

Bill introductions — On June 10, Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) introduced the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act, which "updates federal law to account for modern business activity, including digital goods and services, while establishing a uniform national standard for when states may impose business activity taxes on out-of-state companies." Further, the legislation "clarifies that businesses must maintain a meaningful physical presence in a state before being subject to certain state and local business taxes and extends existing federal protections beyond traditional net income taxes to other business activity taxes."

Today, June 12 (12:00 p.m. ET), is the EY Center for Tax Policy monthly update: legislative, economic, regulatory and IRS developments. Register.