The Senate September 28 approved by a 77-22 vote the Protect College Sports Act (S. 4468), which would establish requirements for name, image or likeness (NIL) agreements for college student athletes and provide a limited antitrust exemption for schools and conferences to pool and sell certain college sports media rights. It is possible the Senate will finish its work tonight and depart on a recess scheduled to last until after the elections. The Senate will conduct procedural votes at 11:30 a.m. on:

• the Stop Insider Trading Act (H.R. 7008), which would ban stock trading by members of Congress and require photo ID to vote
• the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340), addressing recovery of data center costs
• the nomination of Keith Sonderling to be Secretary of Labor.

As Politico Inside Congress reported, absent a time agreement, the Sonderling nomination would require debate time into Thursday, when members want to be away from Washington and attendance problems in the Senate will be even more of an issue. Thus, the nomination vote could be put off until November.

There are doubts that Democrats will help advance either of the other bills. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said after the Tuesday policy luncheons that "Democrats have blocked us from consideration" of numerous bills and will have the opportunity to "do the right thing" and vote in favor of the two House-passed measures on trading/voter ID and data centers. "It's a political season, we all understand that, but you would think that on issues where you have broad bipartisan consensus and things that are really important to the future of this country, you would get some Democrats to work with you and cooperate. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case," Thune said.

Democrats have been critical of the data center bill — for including optional, not mandatory, requirements — and various aspects of the stock trading and voter ID measure. Some suggested Republican priorities are misguided in the current environment. "Instead of talking about how to bring down the cost of health care, how to bring down the cost of our energy bills, how to bring down the cost of housing or bring down the cost of gas, they're going after voter suppression measures like voter ID," Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) said following the policy luncheons.

Democrats continue offering bills on affordability issues. On September 28, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) formally introduced the Oil Company Windfall Profits Tax Act (S. 5569) to impose a permanent 50% excess profits tax on big oil companies, and direct all revenues raised to the Highway Trust Fund and other accounts. Excess profit would be considered the excess of adjusted taxable income for the taxable year over the reasonably inflated average profit.

Today (September 30), Senators plan to unveil the bill resulting from bipartisan negotiations on energy permitting reform, which could possibly be cued up for consideration during the lame-duck session of Congress to begin following the November 3 midterm elections. The bill has been largely negotiated by a "four corners" group of Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Mike Lee (R-UT). The four told reporters on Monday they had reached an agreement on the substance of legislation to streamline permitting, though Bloomberg reported that Senator Whitehouse is still seeking "clarity" from the White House about the targeting of already-approved renewable energy projects. The bill includes language blocking the executive branch from revoking permits except under limited exceptions. Negotiators also included provisions requiring data centers to bear the costs of their higher energy consumption.

Crypto Tax — Senate Finance Committee member Steve Daines (R-MT) is circulating a cryptocurrency tax package that is viewed as similar to the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) approved by the House Ways and Means Committee September 16, which addressed issues including:

• a de minimis rule allowing no gain or loss to be recognized on smaller cryptocurrency transactions
• application of mark-to-market accounting rules to digital asset brokers and dealers
• allowing crypto to qualify for safe harbors to facilitate foreign investment in US markets
• streamlining rules on charitable contributions of digital assets
• applying wash sale rules and constructive sale rules to digital assets.

A draft of the Daines bill being circulated would:

• provide that no gain or loss is recognized on the use of a covered payment stablecoin to purchase products or services
• allow dealers and traders in covered digital assets to elect mark-to-market treatment
• provide that income from digital asset validation supporting certain activities — staking, mining, etc. — is US-source if derived by a US person and foreign-source if derived by a foreign person
• apply a safe harbor that foreign persons trading stocks, securities, or commodities through US brokers or for their own account are not engaged in a US trade or business to traded digital assets
• provide that digital asset loans are not taxable dispositions
• apply wash sale and constructive sale rules to digital assets
• address staking by exchange-traded trusts and partnerships
• add widely traded digital assets to the appraisal exception for charitable contributions
• provide a de minimis rule under which no gain or loss is recognized on a digital asset used to pay a digital asset transaction cost if the total value used is $10 or less.

Tax — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) announced that the Ways and Means Committee will hold a field hearing on the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Delivering for Small Business, Manufacturing and Working Families. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the Orgill Innovation Center in Collierville, Tennessee, in the district represented by Ways and Means Committee member Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN).

IRS — In regulations (TD 10056) released September 29, the Administration provided general requirements for Trump accounts and rules for establishing an initial Trump account, including automatic enrollment by the Treasury Department and the administration and claiming of auto accounts. Introducing auto enrollment, long a feature of retirement savings accounts, to the savings vehicles for children under 18 is viewed as aiming to increase participation. The regulations suggested the move could provide Trump Accounts to more than 60 million additional children this year.

On September 29, IRS released the 2026—2027 Priority Guidance Plan that includes 121 guidance projects addressing continued implementation of the OBBBA; deregulation and burden reduction; and guidance addressing tax exempt organizations and digital assets. These include:

• final regulations under IRC Section 45Z on the clean fuel production credit, after proposed regulations were published on February 4, 2026;
• guidance on the domestic content bonus credit amount for the IRC Section 45Y clean electricity production credit and 48E clean electricity investment credit;
• regulations under IRC Section 162(m) for rules regarding excessive employee remuneration from controlled group members; and
• regulations and other guidance under IRC Sections 174 and 174A regarding research and experimental expenditures.

Economic outlook — Senate Leader Thune was additionally asked on Tuesday about the 10-year Treasury bond reaching 5.25% and the 30-year mortgage rate at 7%, and what can Republicans do about it as the party in power in Washington. Leader Thune pointed to the major housing bill approved by Congress, the OBBBA, and energy policies that the Administration is putting in place, saying, "And when that happens and you get growth in the economy, all of these other issues start to become a lot smaller by comparison." He said Republicans staying in power is the better choice for voters "irrespective of where things are today and what the price of diesel is today … Those policies are going to set us up for success and make this country more prosperous … "

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also been focused on economic growth to improve the nation's fiscal situation, and the Administration has pursued buying back Treasury bonds. As the September 29 Washington Post explained, "In part because of the competition for cash from massive private-sector spending on artificial intelligence, investors are demanding higher interest rates for Treasury bonds. Higher bond yields, in turn, raise interest rates for consumer loans such as mortgages. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7 percent last week for the first time since January 2025."

The set of concerning economic milestones also raised concerns from outside groups. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, released a statement calling for "a fiscal intervention" in Washington as the "bond market warning lights are blinking red." She said, "In just the last week, we've seen the 30-year Treasury rate reach a 24-year high, the 10-year hit a 19-year high, a concerning auction of 7-year bonds, and a dismal auction of 5-year bonds." MacGuineas called for "a real plan to get deficits down to 3% of GDP or at least a strategy to move in that direction."