The case of Chapter 11 of Budget 2026 At dawn on Wednesday, he completely dismantled the legislative plan that the ruling party had drawn up at the end of the year. What should have been a forceful shutdown – budget approval before December 31st and Labor reform voted on the 26th – ended with a call for attention to the political table of Javier Milei. Without this chapter, which contained the repeal of the laws of Disability emergency And University fundingthe household”it doesn’t work“, as they admitted PROFILE parliamentary sources of the ruling party. And without a consolidated budget, labor reform became an impossible risk.
On Thursday afternoon the Plaza de Mayo was occupied March of the CGT and social movements, Patricia Bullrich confirmed the change of course. Labor Modernization has an opinion, but the issue is only discussed February 10thas part of the second call for extraordinary meetings. The head of the libertarian bloc summed it up with a sentence that explains the withdrawal: “Yesterday some things were not voted on… The core of the economic program is not to hurt the budget surplus. These laws had such a big impact that they created a budget deficit.” Likewise, in dialogue with the parliamentary press, he tried to soften the blow from the House of Commons: “We could deal with the project now, we have the votes, we have the opinion. What happened is that the number of people who want to get involved was incredible… The senators themselves want to get involved, read and bring in further ideas.”
The defeat of the MPs had changed everything. The political scientist Pablo Salinas He described the scene roughly: “Victory reveals the winner and his abilities. If you don’t know how to read time, what happened this morning will happen.” The government approved the budget but lost an entire chapter due to a technical error: voting by chapter relying on votes. The final reading circulated in all blocks: The ruling party arrived at the venue without the gate being closed. “Being the ruling party and entering the premises without having carried out the porting is the worst idea,” warned Salinas, a diagnosis that even several allies of the ruling party recognized.
Authoritarians don’t like that
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a mainstay of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe that they are the owners of the truth.
Chapter 11, the breaking point
The early morning scene revealed a level of improvisation that strained the ruling party’s relationship with these allies. As Chapter 11 stalled, the budget commission president said: Bertie Benegas Lynchtried adding two last minute changes to save it: one additional transfer of co-participation to the city of Buenos Aires and an increase in resources for the judiciary. The movement tried to retain votes that were beginning to waver, but the maneuver failed. The chapter went the same way and revealed a contradiction: In the name of budget balance, the government had defended every article but in the end offered higher spending to avoid defeat.
Labor reform in February: The government postponed the debate in the Senate to extend negotiations
Hours later, the climate became even more tense. After approving the budget Gabriel Bornoroni suggested LLA’s three names for the nation’s Auditor General. One of them was a leader of La Cámpora. The sign of “Pact with Kirchnerism“Aroused the anger of the professional. Cristian Ritondo He announced that they would recognize the designation in court. The agreement made clear that the ruling party sought votes wherever it could, even at the cost of creating tensions with its strongest partners. In Salinas’ analysis, the episode was further evidence of a larger problem: “What’s the point of openly destroying allies? Doing it sustainably is suicidal.”
In parallel, governors who had worked with the government expressed discomfort with the inclusion of all articles with fiscal implications in the same chapter. Several had received last-minute funds or applications, but they still stalled. In “La Rosada” they admitted writing and timing errors to this medium. The defeat of Chapter 11 became a turning point.
The government’s response and the opinion in the Senate
In response to the request from PROFILEin the government defended its balance sheet of the meeting. “We consider it very positive since the opinions have been sought and 19 votes out of 20 have been won in the chamber. We have received the sanction of two laws: budget and fiscal innocence. The budget maintains the golden rule that allows us to ensure the budget surplus; the markets have reacted accordingly. We attach great importance to the half sanction,” they noted.
Regarding chapter 11, they admitted that “perhaps The writing style was not appropriate or the timing was not sufficient.“and assured that “amendments or new individual laws are being worked on to achieve the same goals.” In addition, they assumed that although the Senate Budget Committee decided without changes, “Senators could change it on the spot“For this reason, the Presidium of the Chamber and the LLA Block are already preparing “to ultimately approve or not approve these changes on the 29th and 30th of the current month.”
Budget 2026 and fiscal innocence: Senate and representatives will continue the debate before the end of the year
Regarding the agreement for the AGNresponded to the criticism: “The Chamber has fulfilled its duty as demanded by opposition figures, journalists and the public. The agreement reflects the political composition of the Chamber. We will continue to work with our allies beyond specific disagreements.”
To regain control, the ruling party accelerated the process in the upper house. This Friday, the Budget and Finance Commission decided on the project “as accepted by the deputies”. The slogan they conveyed was clear: “On the 26th, we will vote as it is.” This means that there will be no reinstatement of Chapter 11 and that the text could be sanctioned without the articles that the executive wanted to repeal. Without this section in the government They do not rule out a possible vetoa scenario that adds additional uncertainty to an already exhausted discussion.
The atmosphere in the Senate is one of caution. In addition to the PRO’s dissatisfaction with the AGN, there are the doubts of the federal senators and the Fury of the governors who felt exposed by the political leadership of the ruling party. Until Wednesday, Bullrich was defending an expedited approach to labor reform, but the Chapter 11 case changed everything. In the opposition they read it the same way: insisting on moving forward without concluding agreements could lead to another parliamentary defeat.
Bullrich publicly admitted this: “We left it so that we could reach an agreement on the 10th, but this decision will stand to be further modified.” From the opposition, Mariano Recalde assessed: “It’s good that the debate is being expanded and being heard.” Much remained untreated.“.
The Senate has voted in favor of the “Fiscal Innocence” project and it will be debated on December 26th
The LLA ends the year without being able to take advantage of its election victory
The government envisioned an orderly December: the budget was approved before Christmas, labor reform was voted on, a gesture of fiscal discipline to the markets and a political signal to governors. Instead, it ends with a incomplete law, the possibility of a veto, the postponed labor reform and strained alliances with its key partners.
The reading of the week in Congress was unanimous: without policy, without agreements and without the votes it thought it had secured, the ruling party could not maintain the central parts of its program. Salinas summed it up in a sentence that became a mantra among lawmakers of all blocs: “Entering the site without the votes to approve your projects is irresponsible“The decision to postpone labor reform until February was not a strategy: it was the only way out to prevent a new coup. The government is buying time. There are doubts whether this time will be enough to restore alliances, restore internal cohesion and guarantee majorities that proved much more fragile than expected this week.”
JD /
About The Author
