04.13.2026 - DC Download

Apr 13

Members are heading back to Washington after a two-week recess. On their agenda is a slate of hearings with Cabinet officials, possible expulsion votes for numerous House members, and more deliberation on the Iran war, government surveillance powers, and a way out of the still-ongoing Homeland Security shutdown. Read on for more.

Progressive Playbook

PCAF has the tools you need to prepare for Tax Day!

Tax Day is coming up, and our team at PCAF is traveling across the country to talk with Americans about Republicans’ harmful policies and the impact of those policies on people’s lives.

We just wrapped up a town hall in Arizona, where constituents told Members of Congress how the GOP’s tax giveaways to the mega-rich—paid for by taking away health care and food aid—have hurt their families. Check out can’t miss moments from that event here!

We also organized a briefing with our partners explaining what Republicans’ corporate-backed tax policies mean for communities, plus what a people-first tax policy looks like. You can watch it here.

In addition, we created taxpayer profiles demonstrating the challenges GOP laws are posing for moms, workers, immigrants, and other taxpayers this year—making it easier for advocates to spread the word to their friends and neighbors. Find those profiles here.

House

House Floor

The House will vote on 16 suspension bills from the Committees on Agriculture, Oversight and Government Reform, and Transportation and Infrastucture. 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. 8035 – (Sponsored by Rep. Crawford / Judiciary Committee) This bill would extend the authorities under title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 through October 20, 2027. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has previously sought reforms to Section 702 of FISA, under which the U.S. government requires companies to provide communications data on non-U.S. persons abroad without a warrant. This process incidentally collects Americans’ protected data, raising Fourth Amendment concerns and posing risks for activists, government critics, and people of color.

H.R. 6409 – FENCES Act (Sponsored by Rep. Pfluger / Energy and Commerce Committee) This bill would exempt states from penalties for Clean Air Act violations if the state can demonstrate that pollutants came from outside the U.S.

H.R. 6387 – FIRE Act (Sponsored by Rep. Evans / Energy and Commerce Committee) This bill would exempt efforts to mitigate wildfire risks—including controlled fires—from states’ emissions limits under the Clean Air Act.

H.R. 6398 – RED Tape Act (Sponsored by Rep. Joyce (PA) / Energy and Commerce Committee) This bill would remove a requirement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review environmental impact statements for federal construction projects.

H. Res. 1156 – Expressing support for tax policies that support working families. (Sponsored by Rep. Kelly (PA) / Ways and Means Committee) This resolution would list out the purported accomplishments made by the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

House Committee Highlights

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

Wednesday Hearings

The President’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budge t Reque st (Committee on the Budget)

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testifying

Budget Hearing - Department of Energy (Committee on Appropriat ions)

Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifying

Bui ldin g an AI -Ready America: Underst anding AI’s Economic Impa ct on W orkers and Employe rs (Committee on Educati on and Workforce)

Thursday Hearings

Bu dget Hear ing – The United States Army (Commi ttee on Appropri ations)

Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll testifying

Budget Hearing – D ep art ment of Homeland Security: CBP, ICE, an d U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Committee on Ap propriations)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow testifying
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons testifying
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott testifying

Promoting Acces s to Credit for Everyday Americans (Committee o n Fina ncial Services)

Senate

Nominations

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

John Thomas Shepherd, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas

Senate Committee Highlights

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

Wednesday Hearings

The President’s Fiscal Year 2027 IRS Budget and the IRS 2026 Filing Season (Committee on Finance)

Internal Revenue Service Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano testifying

Reforming The UN: Assessing U.S. Efforts And Priorities (Commit tee on F oreign Relations)

Thursday Hearings

The President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal (Committee on the Budget)

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testifying

ISSUES TO WATCH

Revisiting Iran war powers

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has wreaked havoc across the world and killed thousands of people. Last week, President Trump escalated an already-dire situation to a terrifying degree, threatening that “a whole civilization will die…never to be brought back again.” Human rights experts said this could constitute a threat to commit genocide.

On top of this horrifying loss of life, the war is forcing Americans to grapple with more expensive gas, plane tickets, groceries, mortgages, and more—worsening anxieties at a time when affordability is already top-of-mind.

Democrats in both chambers have pledged to force votes to end military action against Iran that Congress has not authorized. While similar votes failed last month, two Democrats who previously supported the U.S. attacks on Iran have changed their positions. Whether Republicans will similarly rethink their support for the war remains to be seen.

More on this:

Iran War Costs: What We Know and Where We Might Be Headed (Quincy Institute)

Republicans in Congress brace for a fight over the Iran war price tag (NPR)

"The door is not closed": Mediators rush to revive U.S.-Iran talks (Axios)

Trump announces naval blockade of Iran after Islamabad talks yield no deal (Washington Post)

Amid Shaky Ceasefire, War in Iran Is Starving Sudan (Just Security)

Republicans reckon with reconciliation 2.0

It’s been nearly two weeks since Republican leaders announced a plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol via a party-line reconciliation bill. Since then, though, the GOP has failed to unlock a path forward that would reopen the Department of Homeland Security—now shuttered for almost two months—and tee up a reconciliation package that will win enough Republican votes to pass.

A key obstacle has been intraparty disagreements over whether to keep reconciliation confined to immigration enforcement or to add other Republican priorities. GOP leaders will need to make that call in order to proceed: reconciliation’s first step is passing a budget resolution, which directs specific committees to write parts of the reconciliation bill. The final bill will only include policies that fall under those committees' jurisdiction. If a committee isn't named, its issues won’t be in the bill.

Republican leaders reportedly hope to put a budget resolution before the Senate by the end of the month, giving them just weeks to lock in the reconciliation bill’s parameters. Should they clear that hurdle, they’ll have a month to meet President Trump’s June 1 reconciliation deadline.

More on this:

The Basics of Budget Reconciliation (We Build Progress)

These Republican-on-Republican disputes are keeping Congress frozen (POLITICO)

Freedom Caucus calls for full DHS funding in GOP-only bill, rejecting leadership plan (The Hill)

It’s reconciliation 2.0 time (Punchbowl)