WASHINGTON: Republicans geared up Tuesday for a series of crucial votes on Donald Trump’s domestic policy mega-bill, with rows over spending threatening to unravel the US president’s plans for sweeping tax cuts.
Three key House committees are slated to finalize and vote on their portions of Trump’s much-touted “big, beautiful” bill, led by a roughly $5 trillion extension of his 2017 tax relief.
Republicans are weighing partially covering the cost with deep cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program that benefits more than 70 million low-income people.
Before it can get to Trump’s desk, the package must survive votes of the full House and Senate, where Republicans have razor-thin controlling margins.
“The bill delivers what Americans voted for — tax policies that put working families first — and kick-starts a new golden era of American prosperity and strength,” said Jason Smith, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which is charged with drafting the tax proposals.
The marathon committee debates are expected to continue into the night and even spill into daytime Wednesday ahead of a make-or-break full House vote planned for next week.
If any of the committees fall short, the timetable for ushering in Trump’s priorities could be upended.
As the Republican billionaire seeks to cement his legacy with lasting legislation, every week is considered crucial ahead of 2026 midterm elections that could see his grip on the levers of power weakened.
But the package is threatened by bitter infighting, with conservatives angling for much deeper cuts and moderates worried about threats to health coverage.
Republicans plan to slash more than $700 billion from health care alone, which would leave several million people without coverage, according to a nonpartisan estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats have angrily defended at-risk entitlements and hit out at tax cuts they say are a debt-inflating gift to the rich, funded by the middle class.
On the tax front, House Republicans released a nearly 390-page bill Monday detailing where they want to raise revenues to cover Trump’s promised extension of the expiring 2017 tax cuts.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this portion of the package will mean $3.7 trillion in lost revenue between 2025-2034, when savings in the text are taken into account.
The president appears on course to get most of what he wants — including a four-year pause on tax on tips, overtime and interest on loans for American-made cars.
There are big tax hikes on the endowments of wealthy colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and an aggressive roll-back of Joe Biden’s clean energy tax credits.
But Republicans representing districts in high-tax states have rejected as too low a proposed increase in the relief they get in state and local taxes from $10,000 to $30,000.
Democrats hosted a press event at the US Capitol to decry the proposed cuts ahead of the committee meetings, deploying a mobile billboard criticizing Republicans over the Medicaid proposals.
“Let’s be clear: There’s nothing moderate, efficient, or reasonable about Donald Trump and Republicans’ dangerous plans to gut health care and force kids to go hungry so they can fund tax handouts for billionaires,” said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Aida Ross.
Twenty-five activists were arrested outside one of the committee rooms for “illegally demonstrating,” the US Capitol Police told AFP.
“It is against the law to protest inside the congressional buildings,” the force said in a statement.
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US Republicans eye key votes on Trump tax cuts mega-bill
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US Republicans eye key votes on Trump tax cuts mega-bill
Sarkozy describes his prison stay and advises on appealing to the far right in his new book
PARIS: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy described the prison where he spent 20 days as a noisy, harsh “all-grey” world of “inhuman violence” in a book released Wednesday that also offered political advice about how his conservative party should appeal to far-right voters.
In “Diary of a Prisoner,” the 70-year-old says his own tough-on-crime stance has taken on a new perspective as he recounts the uncommon turn in his life after being found guilty of criminal association in financing his winning 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.
The court sentenced him in September to five years in prison, a ruling he appealed. He was granted release under judicial supervision after 20 days behind bars.
The book provides a rare look inside Paris’ La Santé prison, where Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement and kept strictly away from other inmates for security reasons. His loneliness was broken only by regular visits from his wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and his lawyers.
Sarkozy wrote that his cell looked like a “cheap hotel, except for the armored door and the bars,” with a hard mattress, a plastic-like pillow and a shower that produced only a thin stream of water. He described the “deafening noise” of the prison, much of it at night.
Opening the window on his first day behind bars, he heard an inmate who “was relentlessly striking the bars of his cell with a metal object.”
“The atmosphere was threatening. Welcome to hell!”
Sarkozy said he declined the meals served in small plastic trays along with a “mushy, soggy baguette” — their smell, he wrote, made him nauseous. Instead, he ate dairy products and cereal bars. He was allowed one hour a day in a small gym room, where he mostly used a basic treadmill.
Sarkozy says he was informed of several violent incidents that took place during his time behind bars, which he called “a nightmare.”
“The most inhumane violence was the daily reality of this place,” he wrote, raising questions about the prison system’s ability to reintegrate people once their sentences are served.
Sarkozy, known for his touch rhetoric on punishing criminals, said he promised himself that “upon my release, my comments would be more elaborate and nuanced than what I had previously expressed on all these topics.”
Political reflections
Beyond recounting prison life, Sarkozy used the book to offer strategic political advice for his conservative Republicans party and revealed he spoke by phone from prison with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, once a fierce rival.
Le Pen’s National Rally is “not a danger for the Republic,” he wrote. “We do not share the same ideas when it comes to economic policy, we do not share the same history … and I note that there may still be some problematic figures among them. But they represent so many French people, respect the results of the elections and participate in the functioning of our democracy.”
Sarkozy argued that the reconstruction of his weakened Republicans party “can only be achieved through the broadest possible spirit of unity.”
The Republicans party has in recent years been moving away from a position held among parties for decades that any electoral strategy must be aimed at containing the far right, even if it means losing a district to another competitor.
Still, political analyst Roland Cayrol said Sarkozy’s comments came like “a thunderclap” in the decades-long position of French conservatives that the National Rally doesn’t “share the same values” and “no electoral alliance is possible” with the far right.
The former president from 2007 to 2012 has been retired from active politics for years but remains very influential, especially in conservative circles.
In the wake of Sarkozy’s comments, the Republicans’ top officials have stopped short of calling for any actual cooperation deal with the National Rally, but instead indicated they want to focus on ways to get far-right voters to choose conservative candidates.
Strained ties with Macron
Sarkozy also mentioned his former friendship with centrist President Emmanuel Macron. The two men met at the Élysée presidential palace just days before Sarkozy entered prison.
According to Sarkozy, Macron raised security concerns at La Santé prison and offered to transfer him to another facility, which he declined. Instead, two police officers were assigned to the neighboring cell to protect him around the clock.
Sarkozy said he lost trust in Macron after the president did not intervene to prevent him from being stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, in June.
Last month, Sarkozy was convicted of illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, in a major blow to his legacy and reputation. He was sentenced to a year in prison, half of it suspended, which he now will be able to serve at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements to be set by a judge.
Last year, France’s top court upheld an appeals court decision that had found Sarkozy guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about legal proceedings in which he was involved.
In “Diary of a Prisoner,” the 70-year-old says his own tough-on-crime stance has taken on a new perspective as he recounts the uncommon turn in his life after being found guilty of criminal association in financing his winning 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.
The court sentenced him in September to five years in prison, a ruling he appealed. He was granted release under judicial supervision after 20 days behind bars.
The book provides a rare look inside Paris’ La Santé prison, where Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement and kept strictly away from other inmates for security reasons. His loneliness was broken only by regular visits from his wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and his lawyers.
Sarkozy wrote that his cell looked like a “cheap hotel, except for the armored door and the bars,” with a hard mattress, a plastic-like pillow and a shower that produced only a thin stream of water. He described the “deafening noise” of the prison, much of it at night.
Opening the window on his first day behind bars, he heard an inmate who “was relentlessly striking the bars of his cell with a metal object.”
“The atmosphere was threatening. Welcome to hell!”
Sarkozy said he declined the meals served in small plastic trays along with a “mushy, soggy baguette” — their smell, he wrote, made him nauseous. Instead, he ate dairy products and cereal bars. He was allowed one hour a day in a small gym room, where he mostly used a basic treadmill.
Sarkozy says he was informed of several violent incidents that took place during his time behind bars, which he called “a nightmare.”
“The most inhumane violence was the daily reality of this place,” he wrote, raising questions about the prison system’s ability to reintegrate people once their sentences are served.
Sarkozy, known for his touch rhetoric on punishing criminals, said he promised himself that “upon my release, my comments would be more elaborate and nuanced than what I had previously expressed on all these topics.”
Political reflections
Beyond recounting prison life, Sarkozy used the book to offer strategic political advice for his conservative Republicans party and revealed he spoke by phone from prison with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, once a fierce rival.
Le Pen’s National Rally is “not a danger for the Republic,” he wrote. “We do not share the same ideas when it comes to economic policy, we do not share the same history … and I note that there may still be some problematic figures among them. But they represent so many French people, respect the results of the elections and participate in the functioning of our democracy.”
Sarkozy argued that the reconstruction of his weakened Republicans party “can only be achieved through the broadest possible spirit of unity.”
The Republicans party has in recent years been moving away from a position held among parties for decades that any electoral strategy must be aimed at containing the far right, even if it means losing a district to another competitor.
Still, political analyst Roland Cayrol said Sarkozy’s comments came like “a thunderclap” in the decades-long position of French conservatives that the National Rally doesn’t “share the same values” and “no electoral alliance is possible” with the far right.
The former president from 2007 to 2012 has been retired from active politics for years but remains very influential, especially in conservative circles.
In the wake of Sarkozy’s comments, the Republicans’ top officials have stopped short of calling for any actual cooperation deal with the National Rally, but instead indicated they want to focus on ways to get far-right voters to choose conservative candidates.
Strained ties with Macron
Sarkozy also mentioned his former friendship with centrist President Emmanuel Macron. The two men met at the Élysée presidential palace just days before Sarkozy entered prison.
According to Sarkozy, Macron raised security concerns at La Santé prison and offered to transfer him to another facility, which he declined. Instead, two police officers were assigned to the neighboring cell to protect him around the clock.
Sarkozy said he lost trust in Macron after the president did not intervene to prevent him from being stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, in June.
Last month, Sarkozy was convicted of illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, in a major blow to his legacy and reputation. He was sentenced to a year in prison, half of it suspended, which he now will be able to serve at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements to be set by a judge.
Last year, France’s top court upheld an appeals court decision that had found Sarkozy guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about legal proceedings in which he was involved.
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