Overview
- The Bundestag Haushaltsausschuss approved a provisional 2027 budget of about €560.9 billion after roughly 16 hours of negotiations, with final Bundestag and Bundesrat votes still to come.
- Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said a €34 billion gap was closed and defended record investment levels, while the plan includes one of the highest rounds of new borrowing in the Federal Republic's history.
- A Union proposal to cut the electricity tax by about €5.4 billion was not financed and is not in the draft, leaving the issue to be revisited at the Koalitionsausschuss next week.
- Public resistance is strong: a ZDF Politbarometer found 59 percent oppose taking on so much new debt, and senior Union figures such as JU leader Johannes Winkel publicly called the plan unsustainable.
- Separately, U.S. House Democrats are reportedly preparing possible January subpoenas for FIFA president Gianni Infantino over alleged contacts with President Trump, a developing oversight probe distinct from the German budget fight.