Nearly 250 million voters are expected to choose their representatives this Tuesday during the midterm elections in the United States. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate out of 100 are renewed. But also 36 governorship positions. This election is usually unfavorable to the president in place. Donald Trump should not deviate from tradition.
In the House, the game already seems to be up. While Republicans hold only a slim majority, projections are largely favorable to Democrats. On the other hand, in the Senate, the situation is more indecisive. At this stage, Donald Trump’s camp has 53 senators out of 100. Nothing yet certifies that this majority will be lost in favor of the left. These elections are mainly played out on economic conditions: according to a survey published by the New York Times53% of Americans consider them “mediocre”.
2 – High schools: unions call for a blockade
The Student Union, the High School Union and Unef are calling for a blockade of high schools and universities this Tuesday. This should be the first major blocking day of the week, before movement resumes on Thursday. The executive hoped that these high school mobilizations would run out of steam with the school holidays, but this bet seems to be losing.
The government has, however, made several announcements, such as the replacement of Parcoursup in 2028, the creation of 15,000 additional places at university or the capping of classes at 28 students. The executive also expects a convergence between high school students and other workers’ unions this Thursday, while a new major day of mobilization is announced.
3 – Budget: vote on the revenue part at the Assembly
Deputies are called to vote on the revenue part of the state budget this Tuesday. The exercise will be as perilous as two weeks ago, when the Social Security budget was reversed, thus sending the text directly to the Senate. If, like last year, the members of the Palais-Bourbon immediately reject the part levying taxes, they will not be able to examine that of expenditure because the entire state budget would also be sent back to the Palais du Luxembourg.
Since the start of examination of the text, the government has faced a series of setbacks. For example, he saw the surtax on the profits of large companies torpedoed by the National Rally and part of the central bloc. On the other side of the chamber, the left managed to pass a Zucman tax on the profits of multinationals. Furthermore, the difficulty will go up a notch for the government: it has announced that it will have to make more efforts than expected due to lack of sufficient growth.
4 – Winners of the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes
The winners of the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes will be announced this Tuesday, around 12:45 p.m., at the Drouant restaurant in Paris. The writer Philippe Claudel will announce the winner of the Goncourt from the staircase of the house, before the name of the Renaudot winner is revealed, in the same place. Four finalists are in the running for the first prize: Yannick Haenel with The loneliness of teachers is infinite (Gallimard), Philippe Jaenada with The unknown woman from Quai de Javel (Flammarion), Clémentine Mélois with Things I thought were lost (L’Arbalète/Gallimard) and Sylvain Prudhomme with On the other side of the lake (Midnight).
For the Renaudot novel prize, six finalists compete: François-Henri Désérable with The Palace (Gallimard), David Djaïz with The method (Stock), Patrice Jean with Stay free (Le Cherche Midi), Osvalde Lewat with An indocile body (Philippe Rey), Anne Percin with Eugénie under the bombs (Buchet Chastel) and Marie Petitcuénot with Wild hours (Héloïse d’Ormesson). Note that the Renaudot prize for the essay will also be awarded.
5 – The Good News of the day
Finally a little respite for motorists. The price of a liter of diesel should fall further by 12 to 18 cents in the coming hoursthanks to the release of strategic stocks which must supply service stations. The Minister of Commerce, Serge Papin, spoke on RTL of the possibility of now finding diesel at 1.75 euros per liter.
As of Saturday, TotalEnergies reduced the price of diesel to 2.15 euros per liter at 705 stations. For his part, Leclerc announced a drop of 21 cents per liter in 742 service stations since this Sunday. Finally, Coopérative U will offer a reduction in its stations of up to 21 cents per liter. The company says, however, that the timing and scale are expected to vary from station to station.
