Foreign
House GOP Bill Adds $2.4T To Deficit, Says CBO
House Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending cuts package would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the bill that GOP lawmakers narrowly approved last month.
Also, nearly 11 million more people would be uninsured in 2034 due in large part to the package’s historic cuts to Medicaid, the CBO found.
The highly anticipated score, which was released Wednesday, could complicate Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s task of crafting a version of the legislation that his divided conference would approve. Several GOP senators have already expressed concern about the House package’s potential impact to the deficit and want to make deeper spending cuts, while others are wary of the major reductions to the nation’s safety net – particularly Medicaid – in the House bill.
The analysis also adds ammunition to billionaire Elon Musk’s attacks on the package, which he wrote on X Tuesday would bankrupt America. The posts follow an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, in which Musk said the bill would increase the deficit and undermine the work of his Department of Government Efficiency.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk, who recently stepped back from his role with the federal government, posted on X, later adding, “Congress is making America bankrupt.”
Senators began working on the legislation this week, but whatever changes they make would have to pass muster in the House. Thune is hoping to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4.
The CBO analysis also adds fuel to Democrats’ and budget watchdogs’ claims that the package, which aims to fulfill Trump’s agenda, would worsen the nation’s fiscal outlook while providing big tax cuts for the wealthy.
Trump and House GOP leaders have already sought to undercut the CBO’s projections, arguing that nonpartisan agency has missed the mark in the past and that its analyses don’t properly account for the economic growth that would result from the tax breaks. They have made similar claims about estimates from independent groups that also project a big hit to the deficit.
Minutes after the CBO released its analysis, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise attacked the agency, saying it is once again ignoring the business boom – and resulting revenue growth – that the package will spur.
“Anybody who repeats CBO’s analysis is also making those same mistakes,” he said at a House GOP press conference, adding that when the bill becomes law “you’re going to see economic growth in this country like we haven’t seen in generations, meaning more pay in the pockets of workers, and you’re going to see more Treasury money coming in because of the growth of the American economy.”
The CBO said an analysis that takes into account the economic effects of the legislation is forthcoming.
Some Senate leaders are looking to dodge the question of the package’s deficit impact by arguing that extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act should be considered a continuation of current policy, and, therefore, would not contribute to an increase in the deficit. The CBO analysis is based on the standard approach of current law, in which the tax cuts expire at the end of the year, so their extension would entail a cost.
The House package calls for making permanent essentially all of the individual income tax cuts contained in the 2017 tax cuts act. The bill would also temporarily provide tax relief to certain senior citizens and workers who earn tips and overtime, which Trump promised on the campaign trail last year. And it would temporarily restore two TCJA tax breaks for businesses, including allowing them to immediately deduct the cost of research and development and equipment.
To help offset the cost of the tax relief, the House bill would enact historic cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, two of the nation’s key safety net programs. The package would institute work requirements in Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans, and would expand the work mandate in the food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. These provisions would result in millions of people losing their access to health coverage and nutrition assistance, according to preliminary CBO projections released earlier.
The bill would also boost spending on defense, border security and immigration enforcement, which are among Trump’s top priorities.
Big spending cuts, bigger tax cuts
The House package would cut close to $1.3 trillion in spending over a decade, according to the CBO. But the legislation would lower revenue by nearly $3.7 trillion.
Independent analyses show that the tax relief in the package would disproportionately benefit higher-income households, with the impact being even more pronounced if the spending cuts are considered. Those in the lowest income groups would see their incomes fall, after taxes and certain government benefits are taken into account, while the highest earners would enjoy an income boost, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model’s estimate of the final House bill.
Some 10.9 million more people would be uninsured in 2034 under the bill, CBO estimated. That includes 7.8 million Americans who would lose health insurance because of the Medicaid provisions and roughly 1.4 million people without verified citizenship or satisfactory immigration status who would not be covered in 2034 by health programs funded only with state dollars. Others would lose coverage because of the Affordable Care Act measures in the bill.
“This would be the biggest rollback in federal support for health care ever,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the nonpartisan KFF, posted on X.
Democrats quickly sought to amplify the CBO’s findings about the bill’s impact.
“It’s shocking House Republicans rushed to vote on this bill without an accounting from CBO on the millions of people who will lose their health care or the trillions of dollars it would add to the national debt,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.
“The truth is Republican leaders raced to pass this bill under cover of night because they didn’t want the American people or even their own members to know about its catastrophic consequences.”
Edition.cnn.com
The National Assembly of Bénin (National Assembly Benin) has approved a revision of the country’s Constitution, extending the presidential term from five to seven years and creating a bicameral parliament.
In a post shared on Facebook on Saturday by the Assemblée Nationale du Bénin, lawmakers announced that the bill was passed during a plenary session held on Friday at the Palace of the Governors in Porto-Novo.
According to the Assembly, 90 deputies voted in favour and 19 against, approving the amendment to the Constitution of 11 December 1990, previously revised in 2019.
“The Deputies of the 9th Legislature… adopted by 90 votes for and 19 against, the law modifying the Constitution of the Republic of Bénin,” the statement read.
The legislative body added that, in line with Article 154, the proposal first had to secure the required three-quarters majority during a preliminary vote. Deputies met this threshold with 87 votes for and 22 against, before proceeding to the final secret ballot.
The post, originally published in French, has been translated by PUNCH Online using Google Translate.
According to the Assembly’s breakdown, 15 new articles were created and 18 amended.
One of the most significant changes is contained in the newly modified Article 42, which now states: “The President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of seven years, renewable only once. No one may, in his or her lifetime, serve more than two terms as President of the Republic.”
The reform also introduces a bicameral legislature, as stipulated in the updated Article 79, giving legislative powers and government oversight to both the National Assembly and a newly established Senate.
“Beyond this major change, Parliament—under the amended Article 79—exercises legislative power and oversees government action. It is now composed of two chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate.”
Under Article 80, deputies’ terms are now set at seven years, renewable, with an additional clause stating that any deputy who resigns from the party that sponsored them during legislative elections will automatically lose their mandate.
“The term of office for deputies is 7 years, renewable. Any deputy who resigns and thereby ceases to be a member of the party that sponsored them for the legislative election loses their mandate.”
The reformed Article 113.1 defines the Senate as an institution responsible for regulating political life and safeguarding “national unity, development, territorial defence, public security, democracy, and peace.”
The law also extends the tenure of mayors and municipal councillors to seven years, renewable.
The Federal Government has opened discussions with the United Kingdom (UK) over the possible transfer of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence in a UK prison for organ harvesting.
The Daily Voice understands that a high-powered Nigerian delegation arrived in London on Monday to engage British authorities on the matter.
The delegation included the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Both officials held a closed-door meeting with senior representatives of the UK Ministry of Justice.
After the meeting, the officials were received by Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, at the Nigerian High Commission in London.
Diplomatic sources told Daily Trust that the visit is part of President Bola Tinubu’s effort to secure either an early release or a lawful review of Ekweremadu’s sentence based on humanitarian considerations.
Officials familiar with the negotiation confirmed that the Nigerian government is exploring different legal avenues under UK law, including prisoner-transfer agreements, compassionate parole, or more lenient relief options.
We are working on an appeal for a prisoner exchange for him to serve the remainder of his term in Nigeria,” a top Ministry of Foreign Affairs official disclosed.
“Consultations are still ongoing with the UK authorities.”
The Daily Voice reports that Ekweremadu, a long-serving legislator and three-time Deputy President of the Senate, was convicted at the Old Bailey in March 2023 alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta.
They were found guilty of conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian, David Nwamini, for the removal of his kidney to treat Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia.
The former senator was sentenced to nine years and eight months in a UK correctional facility — the longest sentence ever handed down in the UK for an organ-harvesting-related offence.
The latest diplomatic push signals renewed efforts by the Nigerian government to renegotiate the terms of Ekweremadu’s imprisonment, even as officials tread carefully to respect UK judicial processes.
The Federal Government is expected to update the public as consultations with UK authorities continue.
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has urged Nigerians and other Africans affected by the recent mass visa revocation in the United States to return home before facing possible arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a post on his X (Twitter) handle on Monday, Sani said no matter how long one stays abroad, they’ll be reminded it’s not their home.
He wrote, “Nigerians and other thousands of Africans whose visas were recently revoked by President Trump should hasten and leave the country and return home before they get arrested by ICE.
“No matter how long you live in the comfort of your adopted home, you will someday be reminded that it’s not your father’s house.”
The advisory comes in the wake of reports that the US State Department has revoked at least 80,000 visas since January 2025 under President Donald Trump’s administration, more than twice the number recorded in the previous year.
According to a report released last Thursday, the US Department said the revoked visas include 16,000 linked to driving under the influence, 12,000 for assault, and 8,000 student visas.
It also listed other reasons for the revocations, including terrorist support, criminal activity, public safety threats, overstays, and actual terrorism.
The advisory comes in the wake of reports that the US State Department has revoked at least 80,000 visas since January 2025 under President Donald Trump’s administration, more than twice the number recorded in the previous year.
According to a report released last Thursday, the US Department said the revoked visas include 16,000 linked to driving under the influence, 12,000 for assault, and 8,000 student visas.
It also listed other reasons for the revocations, including terrorist support, criminal activity, public safety threats, overstays, and actual terrorism.
While the nationalities of the affected visa holders were not disclosed, the department had earlier stated in August that over 6,000 student visas were withdrawn for overstays and legal violations, including a small number connected to “support for terrorism.”
The US has also tightened its visa regulations in recent months.
In July, the US Embassy directed all applicants for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas to set their social media accounts to public as part of enhanced background checks.
That same month, it also announced a major policy change affecting Nigerian applicants, which included a reduction in the validity period for several categories of visas.
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