03.16.2026 - DC Download

Mar 16

House lawmakers are back in Washington as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran enters its third week, yet there are still no public hearings on the horizon. Senators, meanwhile, will begin considering their colleague’s nomination to helm the Department of Homeland Security and, likely, a Trump-backed voter suppression bill. We’ll dig into all this and more below.

Progressive Playbook

On Friday, March 20, the Progressive Caucus Action Fund and local partners are bringing the Progress for the People Town Hall tour to Phoenix, AZ! Then on Sunday, March 22, we’re stopping in Sacramento, CA!

RSVP to join us in Phoenix here, and register to join us in Sacramento here!

President Trump and Republicans in Congress have cut essential services and increased the cost of health care, groceries, utilities, student loans, and more — all while handing massive tax breaks to corporations and the ultra-wealthy. At the same time, the administration’s attacks on immigrants have torn apart our communities and undermined due process and the rule of law. And there’s been zero accountability for corruption and abuse of power at the highest levels.

These town halls are about drawing a clear line: our communities believe in accountability, constitutional rights, and a government that serves people — not one that protects the powerful and corrupt.

This is our moment to organize, demand answers, and build a people-powered movement. We hope to see you there!

“We Pay, Billionaires Profit: The Real Cost of Trump’s Tax Law”

The Progressive Caucus Action Fund is excited to announce the launch of our latest report and toolkit where we look at how the Trump tax plan will directly affect people across the country. We’ve compiled six individuals and families and broken down exactly how they are impacted. While these individuals are not real themselves, their stories are based on very real scenarios. You can read the report here.

Additionally, we are hosting a virtual briefing on Wednesday, March 25 at 3 PM (EST) with Americans for Tax Fairness, Families Over Billionaires, and Tax the Greedy Billionaires where we will be discussing these profiles, along with polling, and a new policy agenda of legislative solutions to raise revenue and address the harms of the OBBBA. You can RSVP here.

House

House Floor

The House will vote on 17 suspension bills from the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, Natural Resources, and Small Business. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.

This week the House will also consider the following bills, subject to a rule:

H.R. 1958- Deporting Fraudsters Act of 2026 (Sponsored by Rep. Taylor (OH) / Judiciary Committee) This bill would clarify that immigrants who have been convicted of defrauding the U.S. government or have unlawfully received public benefits—even if they have not been convicted of doing so—are deportable. Such a conviction is already a deportable offense.

H.R. 4638 - Federal Working Animal Protection Act (Sponsored by Rep. Calvert (CA) / Judiciary Committee) This bill states that conviction for or admitting to harming animals used in law enforcement is a deportable offense. Such a conviction is alr eady a deportable offense. The bill, however, infringes on due process rights by allowi ng an immigrant to be deported even if the crime has not been prosecuted.

H.R. 556 - Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act (Sponsored by Rep. Wittman (VA) / Natural Resources Committee) This bill bars federal agencies from prohibiting or regulating the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water.

House Committee Highlights

A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:

Tuesday Hearings

DeepSeek and Unitree Robotics: Examining the National Security Risks of PRC Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Autonomous Technologies and Building a Secure U.S. Technology Base (Committee on Homeland Security)

Reforming America’s Defense Sales (Committee on Foreign Affairs)

Wednesday Hearings

Budget Hearing – Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office (Committee on Appropriations)

Restoring Mission Focus at the State Department: Authority, Accountability, and the Role of the Foreign Service (Committee on Foreign Affairs)

Thursday Hearings

Member Day: S ubcommittee on Defense (Committee on Appropriations)

Friday Hearings

Oversi ght Field Hearing – Accountabilit y and Reform at the United Nations (Committee on Appropriations)

Ambassador Michael Waltz testifying

Senate

Nominations

The Senate this week has teed up votes on the following nominees:

Anna St. John, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Senate Committee Highlights

A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:

Tuesday Hearings

S t ealt h Stealing: China’s Ongoing Theft of U.S. Innovation (Committee on the Judiciary)

Wednesday Hearings

Nomination of the Honorable Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Secu rity (Committee on Homelan d Secur ity)

Exami ning th e Challenges and Opportunities with Imp lementing the Endangered Species Act (Committe e on En vironment)

W orldwid e Threats (Select Committee on Intelligence)

Keeping Our Promises: Labor Inflows, Ma intaining Competitiveness, and Supporting a n Aging Population (Joint Economic Commit tee)

ISSUES TO WATCH

Senate to tee up Trump-backed voter suppression bill

The Senate is expected to begin debate this week on the SAVE America Act. The bill’s backers claim it prevents non-citizens from registering to vote, but that is already illegal. In reality, the bill would make it significantly harder, if not impossible, for millions of eligible voters to register to vote.

The bill requires every American to present a passport or original birth certificate to register to vote. More than half of American citizens do not have a passport, and many others d o not have access to their original birth certificates. Even those who do could face added hurdles, including women whose married names do not match their birth certificates, as well as military voters, tribal voters, rural voters, and natural disaster survivors. On top of that, the bill’s requirements are likely to subject naturalized citizens and people of color to greater discrimination and intimidation as they exercise their right to vote.

The President is putting enormous pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to eliminate or significantly change the filibuster to not only advance this bill, but to modify it to ban mail-in voting and further restrict trans Americans’ access to health care.

Sen. Thune plans to allow extended debate on the bill to begin this week. Ultimately, though, it will be subject to the 60-vote threshold—a bar it’s not currently expected to clear. What isn’t clear is when the Senate will reach that threshold.

More on this:

The SAVE Act Would Force Many Rural Americans To Drive Hours To Register To Vote (Center for American Progress)

Fact Sheet: The SAVE Act Threatens All Vote rs (Campaign Legal Center)

SAVE Act Would Undermine Voter Registration for All Americans (Brennan Center for Justice)

Noncitizen Voting Isn’t Affecting State or Federal Elections — He re’s Why (Brenn an Center for Justice)

Congress awaits war supplemental request—and information

Congress is waiting for the White House to ask for more money to conduct the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, now stretching into its third week. The Pentagon told Senate Defense appropriators last week that the war’s first six days alone cost $11.3 billion—a figure that’s been repeatedly called a significant underestimate, as it excludes the cost of the military buildup in the region before the war commenced.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate have yet to call public hearings on the war’s objectives or costs; information-sharing has been limited to closed-door briefings for lawmakers. According to congressional Democrats, even those have been insufficiently detailed. Some senators have shared that the Trump administration does not have a coherent strategy for Iran and no mechanisms to wind down the war.

As a result, Congress—which the Constitution gives sole authority to declare war—is out of the loop on an unconstitutional and unauthorized war that’s already killed 13 U.S. servicemembers, more than 1,300 Iranians, including almost 200 children, and hundreds more across the region, while displacing more than 800,000 people. Whether Republicans in Congress begin reasserting their Constitutionally-mandated role and echoing Democrats’ demands for information about the war’s aims, costs, and harm to civilians remains to be seen.

More on this:

Unrig the Rules — March 12, 2026: What the war with Iran could have paid for at home & what to watch next (We Build Progress)

More Than 250 Groups Oppose Additional Spending on Trump’s Illegal Iran War (American Civil Liberties Union)

The U.S. War on Iran: New and Lingering Nuclear Risks (Arms Control Association)

FACT SHEET: How Much Is the War in Iran Costing American Taxpayers? (Institute for Policy Studies)

Trump’s Iran War Is Driving Up Energy Prices. Here’s Who Profits (Mother Jones)

Are we on the precipice of World War III? (Responsible Statecraft)