The administration has put the pedal to the metal and is going all out in the Senate, where on December 26 it will try to half-authorize labor reform, pass the 2026 budget, push forward with amending the Glacier Law and, if possible, convert the tax innocence project into law to capture the dollars sitting outside the financial system.
The debate on labor reform begins this Friday with the presence of executive officials and is expected to include representatives of the CGT, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) and employers’ chambers, among others.
It was agreed that only 15 guests would be allowed in total, 10 of which would be proposed by the ruling party and its allies, while the remaining 5 would be provided by Peronism.
As Patricia Bullrich, head of the La Libertad Avanza bloc, reports, the ruling party intends to issue a commission dispatch on Friday with the intention of reviewing the government project on December 26th.
But the government’s planning is complemented by what could happen this week in the House of Representatives, where Martín Menem has already confirmed the session this Wednesday to try to give half-sanction to the 2026 budget and advance the half-sanction of the law of fiscal innocence and fiscal and monetary stability.
If the ruling party’s roadmap is fulfilled, the Senate would receive half-approval of the budget this Friday, with the possibility of being able to decide on the same day, which would allow it to put it on the agenda of a possible session that would convene on December 26, the day after Christmas, and they did not rule out the possibility of opening the venue on December 27, although this option is even more complex.
The truth is that in a move that took almost three weeks, the ruling party leader Patricia Bullrich forged agreements with the opposition and secured the support of 44 senators to agree on the distribution of seats on the committees. The maneuver was a déjà vu of what Victoria Villarruel had achieved two years ago when she wrested control of the Senate from Peronism.
In this way, Bullrich, who will chair the Labor and Social Security Commission solely for labor reform, managed to ensure that in the 17-seat commissions, 12 seats remain for La Libertad Avanza and its allies and 5 for Peronism, while in those composed of 19 senators, 13 are controlled by the ruling party and its partners and 6 for the toughest opposition.
Negotiations between Bullrich and the opposition blocs gained momentum after Lorena Villaverde of Rio Negro submitted her resignation from the Senate seat. This move, which the ruling party described as “strategic”, helped the former security minister win the support of the dialogue opposition to push ahead with an expedient meeting of the commissions.
The distribution was formalized in the parliamentary working session this Tuesday led by Vice President Victoria Villarruel, which lasted just under two hours and once again left Peronism in poor taste. The discomfort was reflected in Juliana Di Tullio’s quick exit at the end of the game.
To ensure control of the Labor Commission, Bullrich included four more libertarians and added three government-linked radicals such as Eduardo Vischi (Corrientes), Rodolfo Suárez (Mendoza) and Silvana Schneider (Chaco). The last two senators answer to governors Alfredo Cornejo and Leandro Zdero, who made agreements in the October elections.
The list is completed by Flavia Royón from Salta, who spoke in favor of modernizing labor legislation, the missionary Sonia Rojas Decut, who responds to Carlos Rovira, and Carlos Espínola from Corrientes, who plays in line with the ruling party.
In the budget commission, which remains under the leadership of Ezequiel A Tauche, at least during extraordinary sessions, the former security minister agreed with the dialogue opposition to also keep five seats and gave three places to the radicals, two of which are more linked to the Casa Rosada, Mariana Juri and Schneider from Mendoza.
But he also added Andrea Cristina from Chubut, allied with Governor Ignacio “Nacho” Torres, and Beatriz Avila from Tucumán, political partner of Osvaldo Jaldo. With these names, the ruling party is confident that it can pass both the labor reform and the budget.
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