• Lescure’s nomination is a nod to the left.
• Far right, hard left threaten to bring down govt.
• France unbowed MPs renew call for election.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Sunday named Roland Lescure, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as finance minister in a new government that political rivals threatened to topple quickly if it failed to break with past Macron policies.

Lescure, who was swift to rally behind Macron when he first ran for the presidency in 2017, briefly spent time in the Socialist Party early in his career. While his nomination was widely seen as a nod to the left ahead of further delicate cross-party budget negotiations, left-wing lawmakers were unimpressed.

Budget talks have grown increasingly fraught, requiring delicate trade-offs between three ideologically opposed blocs — Macron’s ruling centrist minority, the far right and the left — which can bring down the minority government if they unite against it.

Lawmakers from the hard-left France Unbowed party said a no-confidence motion would be filed immediately. The first big test for Lecornu, 39, Macron’s fifth prime minister in two years, will be a speech on Tuesday outlining his policy programme.

Budget crisis

Lecornu’s two predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were brought down by parliament over efforts to rein in France’s public spending at a time when ratings agencies and investors are closely watching the country’s fiscal deficit, the largest in the euro zone.

Lecornu has said he appreciates the calls for a break from the past eight years under Macron’s leadership. His political opponents said Macron’s latest cabinet represented continuity.

“We made it clear to the Prime Minister: It’s either a break with the past or a vote of no confidence. The government announced this evening … is all about continuity and absolutely nothing about the break with the past that the French people demand,” Jordan Bardella, president of the nationalist National Rally party, wrote on X.

Hard-left lawmaker Eric Coquerel wrote on X: “For the third time since the July 2024 elections, Emmanuel Macron is once again imposing on us a government of losers and policies that have been rejected at the ballot box.”

Le Marine Returns to Government

Former finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who oversaw France’s “whatever it costs” response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was appointed defence minister. He will now shape French thinking on how Europe should bolster European security as US President Donald Trump demands the European Union do more to support Ukraine.

Several key ministers remained in their posts, including Jean-Noel Barrot at the foreign ministry, Bruno Retailleau at the interior and Gerald Darmanin at justice.

Underlining the government’s fragility, Retailleau, a conservative, expressed discontent at the distribution of portfolios among ruling alliance partners and called an emergency party meeting on Monday.

France Unbowed lawmakers reiterated their call for a presidential election — something Macron has ruled out.

Courting The Socialists 

Lescure, 58, will face a tough balancing act: securing either support or abstention from the Socialists, while preserving Macron’s pro-business legacy and keeping conservatives and liberals on board.

The Franco-Canadian and former senior executive at Natixis Asset Management will also need to be mindful of the far right’s budget sensitivities, given their readiness to try toppling the government once more.

To win over the Socialists, Lecornu has proposed a wealth tax long demanded by the left, and ruled out using special powers to push the budget through parliament without a vote. They have so far called his overtures insufficient.

“Without a change in policy, the Socialists will vote against the government,” Socialist Party Secretary General Pierre Jouvet told BFM TV.

The Trump administration will start mass layoffs of federal workers if President Donald Trump decides negotiations with congressional Democrats to end a partial government shutdown are “absolutely going nowhere,” a senior White House official said on Sunday.

As the shutdown entered its fifth day, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNN‘s “State of the Union” programme that he still saw a chance that Democrats would back down, averting a costly shutdown and federal employee layoffs that have been threatened by White House budget director Russell Vought.

“President Trump and Russ Vought are lining things up and getting ready to act if they have to, but hoping that they don’t,” Hassett said.

“If the president decides that the negotiations are absolutely going nowhere, then there will start to be layoffs. But I think that everybody is still hopeful that when we get a fresh start at the beginning of the week, that we can get the Democrats to see that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs like that.”

Trump described the potential job cuts on Sunday as “Democrat layoffs,” telling reporters: “Anybody laid off that’s because of the Democrats.”

No sign of talks

There have been no tangible signs of negotiations between congressional leaders since Trump met with them last week. The shutdown began on Oct. 1, the start of federal fiscal year 2026, after Senate Democrats rejected a short-term funding measure that would keep federal agencies open through Nov. 21.

“They’ve refused to talk with us,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told CBS‘ “Face the Nation” programme, saying the impasse could be solved only by further talks between Trump and the four congressional leaders.

Democrats are demanding a permanent extension of enhanced premium tax credits to help Americans purchase private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and assurances that the White House will not try to unilaterally cancel spending agreed to in any deal.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he is willing to address the concerns of Democrats but that they must first agree to reopen the federal government.

Trump also expressed an interest in the healthcare question while emphasising Republican interests in reforming the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

“We want to fix it so it works. Obamacare has been a disaster for the people, so we want to have it fixed so it works,” the president said.

Senate vote Monday

Rank-and-file Senate Democrats and Republicans have held informal talks aimed at finding common ground on healthcare and other issues in hopes of reaching a deal to reopen the government.

Asked if the lawmakers are any closer to a deal, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego told CNN: “At this point, no.”

On Monday, the Senate is due to vote for a fifth time on the stopgap funding bill that has already passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and on a Democratic alternative. Neither measure is expected to receive the 60 votes needed to advance.

With a 53-47-seat majority and one Republican opposed to the House funding bill, Republican leaders need at least eight Democrats to support the measure but have seen only three cross the aisle so far.

“It’s open up the government or else,” John Thune told the Fox News programme “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“That’s really the choice that’s in front of them right now,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Rescue efforts were underway on Sunday to clear access to campsites on Tibet’s eastern slope of Mount Everest, where nearly 1,000 people have been trapped by a blizzard that has blocked roads, according to Chinese state media reports.

Hundreds of local villagers and rescue teams have been deployed to help remove snow blocking access to the area, which sits at an altitude above 4,900 metres (16,000 feet), according to a report in Jimu News.

Some tourists on the mountain have already been brought down, it added.

The snowfall began on Friday evening and continued throughout Saturday, according to notices on the official WeChat accounts of the local Tingri County Tourism Company, which said ticket sales and entry to the Everest Scenic Area were suspended from late Saturday.

Just across the border in Nepal, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods that have blocked roads, washed away bridges and killed at least 47 people since Friday, police said.

Thirty-five people died in separate landslides in the eastern Ilam district bordering India.

Nine people were reported missing after being swept away by floodwaters and three others were killed in lightning strikes elsewhere in the country.