MIDEAST: US Envoy To Host Gaza Mediators As They Seek Ceasefire Progress-Axios
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will host talks in Miami, Florida, on Friday, 19 December, with officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to discuss the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, reports Axios. The talks between the three primary mediators, as well as Turkey, come as all four are said to be increasingly impatient at the apparent 'slow walking' of the shift from phase one of the ceasefire deal to phase two by both Israel and Hamas. The report claims Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will meet with Witkoff.
- As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is required to leave power in Gaza, agree to the presence of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), disarm, and decommission its military infrastructure. Israel is obliged to open the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, withdraw its forces, begin the deployment of an ISF, and allow the formation of a technocratic Palestinian gov't in Gaza.
- Earlier in the week, Axios reported on a supposed "stern private message" from the White House to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu following the killing of a top Hamas commander, an incident that the US viewed as a threat to the ceasefire. Netanyahu is due to meet with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on 29 Dec.
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US: CBO's Swagel To Provide Testimony To Congress Shortly
The Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Phillip Swagel, is shortly due to provide testimony to the House Budget Committee. LIVESTREAM
- Politico notes, “The oversight hearing will be the first chance GOP lawmakers have to air their grievances over the agency’s analysis of their party’s megabill [the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill] since the legislation was enacted in July.”
- The Associated Press reported in September that “Trump’s sweeping tariffs plan has posed challenges to the CBO’s standard models for assessing trade. So far, the CBO estimates the tariffs could reduce the national deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade, helping to offset the deficit increases it projects will result from the Republicans’ big bill passed this year. “It’s a huge impact,” Swagel said.”
- Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), who is hoping to succeed retiring Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) as Budget chair, told Politico: “There’s a lot of models or algorithms that go into how they come up with the numbers. And I think the more that can be open and transparent to everyone, the better we can understand how they're reaching their conclusions.”
