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GOP push to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, say going back would be a ‘dramatic’ change for many

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Tax season is done. 

And this year, Congressional Republicans converted tax season to «sales» season. Republicans and President Donald Trump are pushing to approve a bill to reauthorize his 2017 tax cut package. Otherwise, those taxes expire later this year.

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«We absolutely have to make the tax cuts permanent,» said Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., on FOX Business.

«We’ve got to get the renewal of the President’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That’s absolutely essential,» said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on FOX Business.

Rates for nearly every American spike if Congress doesn’t act within the next few months.

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CONFIDENCE IN DEMOCRATS HITS ALL TIME LOW IN NEW POLL

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with the media after the House passed the budget resolution on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

«We are trying to avoid tax increases on the most vulnerable populations in our country,» said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee which determines tax policy. «I am trying to avoid a recession.»

If Congress stumbles, the non-partisan Tax Foundation estimates that a married couple with two children – earning $165,000 a year – is slapped with an extra $2,400 in taxes. A single parent with no kids making $75,000 annually could see a $1,700 upcharge on their tax bill. A single parent with two children bringing home $52,000 a year gets slapped with an additional $1,400 in taxes a year.

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«Pretty significant. That’s an extra mortgage payment or extra rent payment,» said Daniel Bunn of the non-partisan Tax Foundation. «People have been kind of used to living with the policies that are currently in law for almost eight years now. And the shift back to the policy that was prior to the 2017 tax cuts would be a dramatic tax increase for many.»

But technically, Republicans aren’t cutting taxes.

«As simple as I can make this bill. It is about keeping tax rates the same,» said Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, on Fox.

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Congress had to write the 2017 tax reduction bill in a way so that the reductions would expire this year. That was for accounting purposes. Congress didn’t have to count the tax cuts against the deficit thanks to some tricky number-crunching mechanisms – so long as they expired within a multi-year window. But the consequence was that taxes could climb if lawmakers failed to renew the old reductions.

«It sunsets and so you just automatically go back to the tax levels prior to 2017,» said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

A recent Fox News poll found that 45% of those surveyed – and 44% of independents believe the rich don’t pay enough taxes.

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Democrats hope to turn outrage about the perceived tax disparity against Trump.

«He wants his billionaire buddies to get an even bigger tax break. Is that disgraceful?» asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a rally in New York.

«Disgrace!» shouted someone in the crowd.

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«Disgraceful! Disgraceful!» followed up Schumer.

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U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., (R) speaks alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., (L) to reporters during a news conference on the impacts of the Republican budget proposal at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Some Republicans are now exploring raising rates on the wealthy or corporations. There’s been chatter on Capitol Hill and in the administration about exploring an additional set of tax brackets.

«I don’t believe the president has made a determination on whether he supports it or not,» said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

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«We’re going to see where the President is» on this, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent while traveling in Argentina. «Everything is on the table.»

A Treasury spokesperson then clarified Bessent’s remarks.

«What’s off the table is a $4.4 trillion tax increase on the American people,» said the spokesperson. «Additionally, corporate tax cuts will set off a manufacturing boom and rapidly grow the U.S. economy again.»

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Top Congressional GOP leaders dismissed the idea.

«I’m not a big fan of doing that,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Fox. «I mean we’re the Republican party and we’re for tax reduction for everyone.»

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«I don’t support that initiative,» said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., on FOX Business, before adding «everything’s on the table.»

But if you’re President Donald Trump and the GOP, consider the politics of creating a new corporate tax rate or hiking taxes on the well-to-do. 

Capitol Dome 119th Congress

Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Thursday, January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress is set to begin Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The president has expanded the GOP base. Republicans are no longer the party of the «wealthy.» Manual laborers, shop and storekeepers and small business persons now comprise Trump’s GOP. So maintaining these tax cuts helps with that working-class core. Raising taxes on the wealthy would help Republicans pay for the tax cuts and reduce the hit on the deficit. And it would shield Republicans from the Democrats’ argument that the tax cuts are for the rich.

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Congress is now in the middle of a two-week recess for Passover and Easter. GOP lawmakers and staff are working behind the scenes to actually write the bill. No one knows exactly what will be in the bill. Trump promised no taxes on tips for food service workers. There is also talk of no taxes on overtime. 

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Republicans from high-tax states like New York and Pennsylvania want to see a reduction of «SALT.» That’s where taxpayers can write off «state and local taxes.» This provision is crucial to secure the support of Republicans like Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. But including the SALT reduction also increases the deficit.

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So what will the bill look like?

«Minor adjustments within that are naturally on the table,» said Rounds. «The key though, [is] 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate.»

In other words, it’s about the math. Republicans need to develop the right legislative brew which commands just the right amount of votes in both chambers to pass. That could mean including certain provisions – or dumping others. It’s challenging. Especially with the slim House majority.

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protests against tax cuts

People attend a press conference and rally in support of fair taxation near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 10, 2025.  (Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

«There were trade-offs and offsets within that bill that many people are dissatisfied with,» said Bunn of the 2017 bill. «And it’s not clear how the package is going to come together with those various trade-offs.»

Johnson wants the bill complete by Memorial Day. Republicans know this enterprise can’t drag on too late into the year. Taxpayers would see a tax increase – even if it’s temporary – if working out the bill stretches into the fall when the IRS begins to prepare for the next tax season.

It’s also thought that finishing this sooner rather than later would provide some stability to the volatile stock markets. Establishing tax policy for next year would calm anxieties about the nation’s economic outlook.

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«The big, beautiful bill,» Trump calls it, adding he wants the legislation done «soon.»

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And that’s why tax season is now sales season. Both to the lawmakers. And to the public.

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Cuba releases 2,000 prisoners amid Trump pressure, energy crisis

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Cuba’s government released more than 2,000 prisoners as the island faces mounting economic pressure linked to U.S. sanctions and worsening fuel shortages.

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The Cuban Embassy in Washington said authorities granted pardons to 2,010 inmates under provisions of the country’s constitution, citing factors such as good behavior, time already served and health conditions.

«This humanitarian and sovereign gesture was based on a careful analysis of the nature of the offenses committed by the inmates, their good conduct while in prison, [and] the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentences,» the embassy said in a statement posted on X.

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Inmates celebrate as they walk free from La Lima prison in Havana on April 3, 2026, after Cuba announced it would pardon 2,010 prisoners amid mounting U.S. pressure. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials said those released include young people, women, older adults, as well as foreign nationals and Cuban citizens who live abroad but were imprisoned on the island.

The government said it excluded prisoners convicted of serious crimes, including murder, sexual assault, violent robbery, drug offenses and corruption of minors, as well as repeat offenders.

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The move marks the second prisoner release this year and comes during Holy Week, which Cuban officials described as a customary period for such actions.

The release comes as Cuba grapples with a deepening economic and energy crisis driven in part by a renewed pressure campaign from the Trump administration aimed at cutting off the island’s access to foreign oil. The restrictions have contributed to widespread fuel shortages, blackouts and growing unrest across the country.

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WATCH: Cuban power blackout sparks protests as Trump hints at US intervention

President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba and has pressured nations such as Mexico to halt shipments as part of a broader effort to squeeze the island’s energy supply.

The U.S. also allowed a tanker to deliver fuel to Cuba earlier this week after months of severe shortages, with the White House framing the move as a humanitarian exception rather than a shift in policy.

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Recently released Cuban prisoner hugging a woman outside prison gate in Havana

A man embraces a loved one after being released from La Lima prison in Havana on April 3, 2026, as Cuba began freeing more than 2,000 inmates. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has also escalated his rhetoric, recently saying «Cuba’s next» while discussing U.S. actions abroad, though he later sought to downplay the remark.

The deepening crisis has also sparked protests and clashes across the island.

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Cuba has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, and is now led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who succeeded Raúl Castro in 2018.



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Final charge dropped in yearslong Harris-era case against pro-life activist

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A California judge on Wednesday cleared the final legal hurdle in the long-running prosecution of a pro-life activist who alleged in undercover videos that abortion providers were illegally profiting from fetal tissue.

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«As promised, the final charge has been DISMISSED and the case completely expunged— —after a couple months’ administrative delay, and a truly bizarre last-minute ‘April Fool’s’ attempt by @PPFA and @NatAbortionFed to overturn the State’s agreement,» Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden tweeted on Wednesday, including a previous statement made on the reached settlement.

Daleiden, who alongside undercover journalist Sandra Merritt, faced 15 charges filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in 2017. The charges stemmed from an investigation prompted by former California Attorney General Harris’ office, who left her position as state attorney general in January 2017 after being elected to the U.S. Senate.

APPEALS COURT HEARS MEDICAID FRAUD CASE THAT COULD COST PLANNED PARENTHOOD $1.8 BILLION

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David Daleiden, a defendant in an indictment stemming from a secret investigation of his undercover videos of Planned Parenthood, stands in a Houston courtroom, Feb. 4, 2016. (David J. Phillip / Ap)

In January 2025, Daleiden and Merritt each pleaded no contest to one felony count under a settlement with California, which dismissed the remaining charges. Under the agreement, they faced no jail time, fines, or admissions of wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, San Francisco County Judge Brian Ferrall dropped the last charge against Daleiden and expunged the case. 

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In a statement made last year, Daleiden said that the end of «the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris [is] a huge victory for my investigative reporting for the public’s right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood’s sale of aborted baby body parts.»

NEWSOM BAILS OUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD WITH $140M TO KEEP 100 CLINICS OPEN AFTER TRUMP CUTS

Planned Parenthood gender identity

Planned Parenthood chapters in Texas worked with a national organization to create a guide which eliminates women from discussions on pregnancy.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

In January 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta cast the plea deal as a victory for reproductive healthcare access, saying in a press release that his office had secured felony convictions. Under the agreement, Daleiden and Merritt were required to have no contact with, stay away from, and not name the victims in the recordings, and to obey all laws, including by not making additional unlawful recordings.

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DEMOCRATS ESCALATE ANTI-TRUMP LAWFARE BY TARGETING CONGRESS IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD FUNDING FIGHT

«While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare,» Bonta said in a statement at the time. «We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means.»

Daleiden released the videos in 2015 of Merritt having conversations with Planned Parenthood leadership and abortionist doctors, who described procedures ensuring fetal organs remain intact and can be harvested. 

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Bob Bonta

State Attorney General Rob Bonta taking questions on Aug. 28, 2025.  (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

In response to the videos, Harris’ office opened an investigation into Daleiden and Merritt for violating the state’s recording law. In April 2016, California’s Department of Justice issued a search warrant and raided Daleiden’s Huntington Beach apartment, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Daleiden accused the raid of being politically motivated at the time. 

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The release of the videos pushed the Senate Judiciary Committee to call the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood Federation of America. No charges were ever brought against the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Daleiden was sued by Planned Parenthood for damages and was ordered in 2019 to pay $2.4 million in damages and more than $13 million in attorney’s fees.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood, Harris, Daleiden, and the National Abortion Federation for comment.

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Se encuentra el buque de guerra danés hundido por Lord Nelson hace 225 años

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El Museo de Barcos Vikingos de Dinamarca anunció el jueves el descubrimiento de un buque de guerra danés que el almirante Horatio Nelson y la flota naval británica hundieron en la batalla de Copenhague hace más de 200 años.

El museo anunció el descubrimiento exactamente 225 años después de la batalla, informando que había hallado los restos del Dannebroge en el fondo del puerto de Copenhague.

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Los restos fueron identificados por su lastre y su madera.

Los responsables del museo afirmaron que el descubrimiento de los restos del naufragio confiere una mayor relevancia a un momento crucial de la historia danesa.

“La defensa de la Batalla de Copenhague se convierte en una historia de héroes”, dijo Morten Johansen, jefe de arqueología marítima del museo.

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En Gran Bretaña, la batalla se recuerda como una de las grandes victorias de Nelson.

También pasó a la historia por otra razón:

se cree que es el origen de la expresión «hacer la vista gorda».

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El 2 de abril de 1801, una flota naval británica fuertemente armada navegó cerca de la capital danesa.

Durante las guerras napoleónicas, Gran Bretaña, ya en guerra con Francia, consideraba la alianza entre Dinamarca, Suecia, Prusia y Rusia como un pacto antibritánico que podía amenazar los suministros procedentes del Báltico.

En un acto de agresión, los barcos británicos zarparon para intentar romper la alianza.

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En inferioridad numérica, la flota danesa se alineó para crear una «fortaleza flotante» con los llamados buques de bloqueo, desprovistos de aparejos pero cargados de cañones, justo a las afueras del puerto de Copenhague, según informó el museo danés.

Los daneses poco pudieron hacer más que mantener la línea, con 833 cañones frente a los 1270 de la flota británica.

Pescadores y artesanos se unieron a la lucha con apenas unas horas de entrenamiento, temiendo que la soberanía danesa estuviera en peligro.

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La flota británica castigó duramente la línea danesa.

Nelson centró su atención en el Dannebroge como su objetivo principal.

El barco, con una tripulación de aproximadamente 375 hombres, era fundamental para la defensa de Dinamarca y transportaba al comandante danés, Olfert Fischer.

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Dos barcos británicos continuaron disparando contra el Dannebroge, destruyendo rápidamente su cubierta superior e incendiando la embarcación.

Otros barcos de la línea también naufragaron.

Aun así, la línea danesa logró infligir algunos daños a la flota británica.

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Durante la batalla de Copenhague, Nelson era el segundo al mando del almirante Sir Hyde Parker, quien adoptó un enfoque más cauteloso.

Temiendo que Gran Bretaña sufriera demasiadas bajas, Parker dio una señal ordenando la retirada, pero Nelson la ignoró.

Según la leyenda, Nelson alzó un telescopio hacia su ojo ciego y dijo: «No veo ninguna señal».

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Hoy en día, se cree que ese momento es el origen de la expresión «hacer la vista gorda».

Tras unas seis horas de batalla, con la victoria británica prácticamente asegurada, Nelson envió un mensaje al príncipe heredero Federico exigiendo su rendición.

Según el Museo de Barcos Vikingos, advirtió que si los daneses no aceptaban la derrota, la flota británica incendiaría los barcos daneses con sus tripulantes a bordo.

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Dinamarca se rindió, y el Dannebroge, que aún ardía, se hundió poco después.

Nelson fue elevado a la categoría de lord y aún hoy se le celebra como uno de los mayores héroes de guerra de Gran Bretaña.

Victoria o derrota

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Puede que Dinamarca haya perdido la batalla, pero en la historia danesa, la defensa de Copenhague fue vista por los daneses como una especie de victoria, afirmó Johansen.

Hoy, el lugar de la batalla formará parte de Lynetteholm, una isla artificial frente a la costa de la ciudad y uno de los proyectos de construcción más ambiciosos de la historia moderna de Dinamarca.

El sitio servirá como una nueva zona residencial, pero los promotores afirman que también forma parte de una nueva batalla para Copenhague, que se enfrenta al aumento del nivel del mar provocado por el cambio climático.

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Como parte del proyecto de construcción, se enviaron arqueólogos marítimos para excavar el lecho marino.

Al comenzar las excavaciones, la zona, a unos 15 metros bajo la superficie del agua, estaba cubierta de lodo oscuro del puerto.

«En cuanto nos movíamos, se formaba una nube negra en el agua», dijo Johansen.

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El año pasado, los arqueólogos del museo descubrieron un barco mercante medieval de hace 600 años, cuyo gran tamaño evidenciaba la magnitud del comercio danés en la Edad Media.

La excavación finalizará en las próximas semanas y la isla se construirá sobre el yacimiento.

El descubrimiento del Dannebroge también ha arrojado luz sobre las vidas perdidas durante la Batalla de Copenhague.

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Los arqueólogos descubrieron fragmentos de huesos que, según Johansen, pudieron cotejar con los de descendientes actuales.

También hallaron los zapatos desgastados de los artilleros, pero menos botas que hubieran pertenecido a los oficiales.

“Eso nos indica que hubo muchas más bajas entre los soldados rasos, los marineros comunes”, dijo.

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Según él, reflotar el barco será imposible.

Unos 50 años después de la batalla, y tras la reconstrucción de Copenhague, las autoridades portuarias desmantelaron el barco para que no supusiera un obstáculo en el concurrido puerto en tiempos de paz.

c.2026 The New York Times Company

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