The Budget and Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies met this Tuesday and the result left three conclusions. One, that Milei cannot take a step without the agreement of the governors. Two, that heThe provincial leaders have total predisposition to agree with the government. Three, that Not everyone received the offer they expected and they put pressure to the ruling party to continue negotiating.
The government loses a round because it could not prevent the Budget and Finance Commission from ruling on the text of the 2026 budget. Thus, there remains the threat that he could go to the campus before the end of the month and be approved. The defeat of the ruling party was qualified because it managed to keep the majority opinion by only 1 signature, thanks to the fact that Bertie Benegas Lynch was able to break the tie as president of the Commission. Diego Santillithe new minister of the interior, was very active in gathering signatures to avoid a double defeat for the government. He got “to work” once the opposition reached the number that allows it to rule.
The long faces still walked the hallways. The ruling party wanted to move forward only after December 10 when the new deputies and senators take office. With the ruling, there remains the threat that the opposition blocs with some governors will gather the majority to impose their own text in the chamber before the change. The provincial leaders used this tool to improve their position in the negotiation with mileism.
With 21 signatures, the majority opinion was that of La Libertad Avanza and its allies endorsing the text presented by the executive branch on September 15. They accompanied the PRO, the UCR (with the governor of Mendoza), the radicals with wig (Interior League), the governors of Saint John (Production and Work), Missions and Jumps (Federal Innovation).
Of radicalism The governor of Jujuy (Sadir) provided his help removing his deputy from the commission (Jorge Rizzoti) so that another member of his Democracy for Always bloc takes his place.
On the side of those dissatisfied with Milei were the governors of Unión por la Patria (or Fuerza Patria) such as Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, Tucumán, among others, and also the Cordoban Llaryora of the Encuentro Federal bloc led by Pichetto. Union for the Homeland made his own opinion with 20 companies raising their dissents. Federal Meeting, radicals from Democracy Forever and the MID of Zago They directly presented an alternative budget opinion clarifying that it maintains “the spirit of zero deficit” (6 companies), and the PRO Oscar Agost Carreño from Cordoba presented the content.
He Left Front presented its own opinion of rejection with the signature of Christian Castilloquestioning Trump’s axis of submission to the IMF and the United States. “The budget consolidates a dynamic in which they give benefits to those who have the most and no solution to the demands of working people,” Castillo denounced.
In Unión por la Patria there was no celebration either, and they limited themselves to breathing because this time they had no elusive ones in their own ranks to help Milei. They know that the relationship of forces has changed and that now they do not have the number to open the premises. What they did assure is that, If the conditions are met to reach 129, they are willing to open the venue and agree on a common text budget before November 30.
The Federal Meeting block, with prominence of the Cordobans of Llaryorawere the key to marking the government’s path. Your balance of Milei’s meeting with the 20 governors last Thursday was useless and “they didn’t come up with anything”. They hoped that the Executive Branch would give rise to their demands, which focused on money for public works and for pension funds. Since they didn’t have answers, they decided to make this Tuesday’s move. Press to continue the negotiation.
A no less important fact is that Budget negotiation is also intertwined with labor reform that Milei wants to bring to Congress starting December 10. This is confessed by some deputies who respond to provincial leaders who send a message to the government: If they want us to vote on the labor reform, first we want the 2026 budget. Other blocks such as the UCR are more openly in favor of a regressive labor reform that takes away workers’ rights. In Peronism, there are few who publicly criticize it, the majority calls for silence and some quietly acknowledge that “something has to change.” The Left Front has been announcing its rejection and Castillo recalled this Tuesday that “it has been proven completely false that taking away workers’ rights will generate employment.”
La Libertad Avanza intends to approve the 2026 budget between December 10, when the new Congress takes office, and before the holidays. Continue in extraordinary sessions at the end of January or February with the labor reform. That’s your “plan ideal”. It remains to be seen if he can make it a reality. For now, this Tuesday’s ruling leaves the door open for not everything to go according to plan.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
