WASHINGTON: Republicans in the US Congress are discussing a two-step plan to push ahead on President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda when they take control of both chambers next year, potentially starting with border security, energy and defense before turning to tax cuts.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, whose Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority, laid out a plan in a closed-door party meeting on Tuesday that included a call from Trump himself. It aims to use a parliamentary maneuver to bypass the chamber’s “filibuster” rule that requires 60 senators to agree to advance most legislation.
According to the Senate plan, the first bill would focus on Trump’s agenda for border security, energy deregulation and defense spending, while the second would extend tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed during the first Trump presidency, which are due to expire next year.
Thune told reporters that the plan amounted to “options, all of which our members are considering.”
To enact Trump’s agenda, the Senate will have to work closely with the president-elect and the House of Representatives, which is expected to have a razor-thin Republican majority.
“We were always planning to do reconciliation in two packages. So we’re discussing right now how to allocate the various provisions, and we’re making those decisions over the next couple of days,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, who joined Senate Republicans at their meeting.
“There are different ideas on what to put in the first package and what in the second, and we’re trying to build consensus around those ideas,” Johnson told reporters.
The speaker also said that he believes Congress in coming weeks will pursue a continuing resolution, or CR, that would fund federal agencies into March. Current funding is set to expire on Dec. 20.
Before moving a first reconciliation bill, the House and Senate will need to agree on a budget resolution to unlock the “reconciliation” tool they plan to use to bypass the filibuster. Aides said senators hope to do that by the end of January and then move quickly to complete the first bill by March 31.
“We have the trifecta for two years. About 18 months is all we’re really going to have to really get things done,” Republican Senator Mike Rounds told reporters.
Democrats also leaned heavily on reconciliation to pass legislation when they held control of both chambers during the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term.
Republican Senator Rand Paul, a fiscal hawk, raised concerns about the plan’s cost.
“This is not a fiscally conservative notion,” Paul said. “So at this point, I’m not for it, unless there are significant spending cuts attached.”
Extending Trump’s tax cuts for individuals and small businesses will add $4 trillion to the current $36 trillion in total US debt over 10 years.
Trump also promised voters generous new tax breaks, including ending taxes on Social Security, overtime and tip income and restoring deductions for car loan interest.
The tab is likely to reach $7.75 trillion above the CBO baseline over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog group.
US Republicans eye two-step Trump legislative agenda
https://arab.news/cty8m
US Republicans eye two-step Trump legislative agenda
Putin congratulates Russian Muslims on Eid Al-Fitr
- Russian president also acknowledged the contributions of Muslim organizations to the nation’s public and spiritual life
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his congratulations on Sunday to the country’s Muslim community on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
In a message published on the website of the Central Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Russia, Putin highlighted the significance of the holiday, describing it as a time of “spiritual growth, kindness, and compassion.”
According to a report by Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian president also acknowledged the contributions of Muslim organizations to the nation’s public and spiritual life, praising their involvement in charitable, educational, and patriotic initiatives.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also issued a statement congratulating Muslims on the occasion.
Eid Al-Fitr is one of the most important celebrations in Islam, observed by millions of Muslims worldwide with prayers, feasts, and acts of charity.
3 sailors missing off Ghana in suspected pirate attack
- In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
ACCRA: Three Chinese nationals are missing after their vessel came under a “suspected pirate attack” off the coast of Ghana, authorities said over the weekend.
The apparent kidnapping is the latest in the Gulf of Guinea, an area off the Atlantic coast of Africa whose waters — rich in hydrocarbons and fisheries — stretch across several jurisdictions, including those of countries with limited naval and coast guard capacities.
Just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, seven armed people boarded the Mengxin I vessel in Ghanaian waters and fired warning shots, the Ghanaian military said in a statement.
BACKGROUND
In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
The assailants rounded up members of the crew and sent others into hiding.
By the time the attackers departed three hours later, the captain, chief mate, and chief engineer — all Chinese nationals — were missing, according to the statement, dated Saturday.
They are “suspected of being kidnapped by the attackers,” it said.
Ghanaian authorities are sharing information with other members of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, it added.
In 2022, a UN Security Council resolution co-sponsored by Ghana and Norway was issued to condemn the spike in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
A study published in 2021 by the Stable Seas research institute found that pirate groups, mostly in the Niger Delta, can earn around $5 million per year through theft and hostage-taking.
That same year, a Danish naval patrol killed four pirates in an exchange of fire off the coast of Nigeria.
Cholera outbreak in Angola has claimed more than 300 lives: WHO
- Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from feces. It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps
GENEVA: Angola’s cholera outbreak has now claimed 329 lives, the World Health Organization said Saturday, warning that the risk of further transmission in the country and surrounding areas was “very high.”
Angola has been experiencing a substantial cholera outbreak since January, with a total of 8,543 cases as of March 23.
Angola struggles with high poverty rates and poor sanitation despite its oil wealth.
The WHO said the outbreak had rapidly spread to 16 out of Angola’s 21 provinces, affecting people of all age groups, with the highest burden among those under 20.
“The Ministry of Health, with support from WHO and partners, is managing the cholera outbreak response through case detection, deployment of rapid response teams, community engagement and a vaccination campaign,” the UN health agency said.
“Given the rapidly evolving outbreak, ongoing rainy season, and cross-border movement with neighboring countries, WHO assesses the risk of further transmission in Angola and surrounding areas as very high.”
Namibia, Angola’s southern neighbor, recorded its first case of cholera in nearly a decade, the African Union’s health agency said earlier this month. The 55-year-old woman recovered and was discharged from the hospital.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from feces.
It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps.
Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration and antibiotics for more severe cases.
There has been a global increase in cholera cases and their geographical spread since 2021.
Between Jan. 1 and March 23 this year, a total of 93,172 cases and 1,197 deaths were reported across 24 countries, with 60 percent of the cases in Africa, the WHO said.
Niger withdraws from Lake Chad military force fighting terrorist groups
- The ensuing conflict, which has drawn in other extremist groups, has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million, causing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises
NIAMEY: Niger has withdrawn from the military coalition fighting terrorist groups in the Lake Chad region of west-central Africa, saying it will focus instead on protecting its oil operations from attacks.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the four countries bordering Lake Chad since a 2023 coup by Niger’s military.
In a bulletin read on state TV, the army said the operation under the Multinational Joint Task Force, active since 2015, would now be called “Nalewa Dole” following Niger’s withdrawal.
The move “reflects a stated intent to reinforce security for oil sites,” the bulletin stated, without further elaboration.
The four countries that surround Lake Chad — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — have been battling insurgencies since 2009, after a spate of violent campaigns by the Boko Haram group in Nigeria’s northeast spilled into its neighbous.
The ensuing conflict, which has drawn in other extremist groups, has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million, causing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
But since the July 2023 coup, Niger’s military junta has accused Nigeria of supporting foreign forces in a bid to destabilize it, which Abuja denies.
Oil infrastructure in southeast Niger meanwhile, in particular a pipeline leading from the landlocked country to Benin, regularly face attacks by armed groups.
The governor of Niger’s Diffa region, General Ibrahim Bagadoma, said at a regional summit in February that “The problem is that some are making efforts, while others are undermining them. We must present a united front and end foreign regional interferences.”
Late last year, Chad had threatened to withdraw from the Joint Task Force after an attack killed around 40 of its soldiers, citing an “absence of mutualized efforts.”
US carries out strike against Daesh in Somalia
- Somalia is prepared to offer the US exclusive control of strategic air bases and ports, its president said in a letter to President Donald Trump, as seen by Reuters
WASHINGTON: The US military carried out an airstrike against Daesh in the Puntland region of Somalia, killing several Daesh operatives, Africa Command said.
In a statement, the European-based command said the latest raid was conducted in coordination with the Somali government and hit “multiple Daesh-Somalia targets.”
Daesh’s Somalia operation is relatively small compared to the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, but it has been gaining strength in semi-autonomous Puntland.
“The airstrike occurred southeast of Bosasso, Puntland, in Northeastern Somalia,” the AFRICOM statement said.
“AFRICOM’s initial assessment is that multiple Daesh-Somalia operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed,” it said.
The latest strike follows a similar operation two days earlier that AFRICOM said complemented “a larger counterterrorism initiative” under way in Somalia. And it follows US strikes in February, which Puntland authorities said had killed “key figures” in Daesh, without giving further details.
Somalia is prepared to offer the US exclusive control of strategic air bases and ports, its president said in a letter to President Donald Trump, as seen by Reuters.
In the March 16 letter, authenticated by a regional diplomat, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the assets included air bases in Balidogle and Berbera and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso.
The offer could give the US a firmer military presence in the Horn of Africa region as it looks to counter the threat from militants in Somalia and across the region.
“These strategically positioned assets provide an opportunity to bolster American engagement in the region, ensuring uninterrupted military and logistical access while preventing external competitors from establishing a presence in this critical corridor,” the letter said.
Berbera is in the breakaway Somaliland region, meaning the port and air base offer would put the government there and Somalia on a collision course.
“The US gave up this corrupted regime called Somalia. The US is now ready to deal with Somaliland, who has shown the world to be a peaceful, stable, and democratic nation,” said Abdirahman Dahir Aden, Somaliland’s foreign minister.
“The US is not stupid. They know who they need to deal with when it comes to Berbera port,” he added.
Somalia opposes any move to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation.
Balidogle is about 90 km northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, while Bosaso is in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland.
Somalia’s foreign affairs and information ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
