The Senate could make this the final week in session before the November 3 midterm elections, potentially giving back next week's planned session and allowing members to, like their House counterparts, focus on their re-election campaigns. The chamber is focused on a college sports bill, which cleared a procedural vote by a 70-21 vote on Tuesday, in addition to nominations. Continued bipartisan negotiations on energy permitting reform don't appear close to being resolved. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is said to be keeping options open regarding the chamber's schedule and discussing them with members today.

Politico reported, in a September 22 story headlined "Senate Republicans stew on pre-election dilemma: Should they stay or should they go?,": "The slim hope that any piece of affordability legislation could possibly get across the Senate floor in the final weeks of September has others in the GOP eager to simply get their vulnerable colleagues back on the campaign trail and make their case directly to voters … So long as senators stay in the Capitol, they are exposing themselves to a barrage of off-message questions about the Iran war and spiraling energy prices … "

On the flip side of Senators-exiting-early discussions is talk of the House coming back if there is a breakthrough on energy permitting reform that could address pre-election affordability concerns of voters given high gas and diesel prices.

Nominations — The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a vote for Thursday (September 24) on the nominations of:

• James Gadwood to be IRS Chief Counsel
• Andrew De Mello to be a U.S. Tax Court judge
• Chris Klomp, President Trump's nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, and
• Ge Bai, Trump's nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at HHS.

The Committee posted questions for the record (QFRs) including on the following topics for Gadwood:

• Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) asked about their bill to ensure that bond insurance qualifies for the current insurance exception under the passive foreign investment company (PFIC) rules;
• Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) expressed concern about outdated IRS fuel excise tax regulations improperly taxing fuel used by commercial vehicles that operate auxiliary equipment through modern power take-off (PTO) systems, as well as third-party litigation financing arrangements; and
• Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked for a review of legal positions and guidance governing the R&D credit as it applies to manufacturers, including concerns about IRS positions on whether research conducted on the shop floor qualifies for the R&D credit and whether supplies constitute qualified research expenses.

Trade — In a September 21 letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) called on U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for more information on President Trump's latest tariffs and whether there is a plan to ensure that consumers receive refunds if the courts find that they are illegal. "Without such a plan, President Trump's reckless trade policy risks becoming nothing but a multi-billion-dollar scheme to transfer wealth from consumers to giant corporations," wrote the senators.

Health care — Vice President JD Vance on September 22 announced an initiative intended to save $2.2 billion in taxpayer money by ensuring those receiving Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies are entitled to receive them. "We are stopping Obamacare enrollment for about 750,000 people. Seven hundred and fifty thousand people who we believe are fraudulently enrolled in the program. That's number one," VP Vance said. "The second thing that we're going to do is we're going to do some additional verification. We expect that most of these people are fraudulently enrolled, but we're going to do some additional verification on about 419,000 people."

Asked about the development on Fox News September 22, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said, "Looking at any waste, fraud and abuse in government will help reduce our national debt. Last year, I asked for the Government Accountability Office to look into these Obamacare subsidies. And in December, they provided a report, and in that report said 59,000 dead people were having their insurance subsidized under Obamacare." He said there have been fraudulent accounts still being subsidized. "That means insurance companies were being subsidized for health insurance that wasn't being provided. So, when you look at the 760,000 people that they are taking off, over 300,000 didn't even know that they were on the program," Chairman Smith said. "Those are problems. The money adds up, as you saw, $2.2 billion today."

Budget — The ACA development comes amid increased concern over the nation's fiscal situation, with the February Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections of federal debt held by the public at 100% of GDP and rising, annual deficits of roughly $2 trillion, and the Social Security program trustees' June estimate that 100% of scheduled benefits can be paid only until Q4 of 2032.

On Fox, Chairman Smith said Social Security and Medicare insolvency in just a few years "have to be addressed and it has to be done in a bipartisan approach." He added, "One party is never going to be able to do it by themselves. It has to be Republicans and Democrats, and everyone has to give a little." The Chairman was separately cited in a Roll Call report, "Fiscal commission weighed as tool to fight soaring debt," as being opposed to establishing a commission to address deficit reduction and entitlement issues. He said lawmakers "really don't need a commission to tell us to do our job … We just need to do it," during a Budget Committee field hearing in Texas (he is not on the Budget Committee but attended the hearing). "We could do it right now if we just came together."

That is the same view expressed by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) during an August 5 hearing focused on Senator Bill Cassidy's (R-LA) proposal, with some Senate Democrats, to establish a commission to present options for shoring up Social Security. Wyden said he wants the Finance Committee to do the work of fixing the program's problems.

During the Budget Committee field hearing, Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) said of the fiscal challenge, "It's going to require both parties to take this on. We have to work together, Democrats and Republicans." Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA), who like Arrington is also a member of the Ways and Means Committee, suggested more field hearings. "I think that this should be the first of a number of Budget Committee hearings that we take on the road to show the American public the substantive work that we do in this committee," he said.

IRS — Notice 2026-55 released on September 22 requested comments on issues arising regarding investments in businesses located in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs), including with respect to changes under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). These include whether additional guidance is needed to address issues relating to qualifying investments of amounts of eligible gains made by taxpayers in qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) and investments of such funds made by QOFs in qualified opportunity zone businesses (QOZBs).