Milei strengthened his hand in 2025. Can he hold it in 2026? |
Two years ago, President Javier Milei had such a tiny congressional minority that people were asking how he would govern. Today, his La Libertad Avanza party has the largest bloc in the lower house and a more powerful presence in the senate.
In early December, the new deputies elected in October’s mid-term elections were sworn in, ringing in the start of the libertarian economist’s third year in office. Over the last three weeks of 2025, Congress is holding extraordinary sessions to debate a series of reforms and key bills such as the budget. But, while Milei is hoping that legislating will be a clear run, even with allies he’s short of an overall majority.
In the end, the real test may be whether he can keep everyone onside for long enough to implement his ideas.
The president hopes to pass a flurry of business-friendly bills, including labor and tax reforms and the rollbacks of environmental protections. But in the past few days we have learned that he can take nothing for granted.
On Friday night, Milei and his party celebrated as the Senate passed his 2026 budget by a comfortable 46-25 margin. It is the first time the president has passed a budget, after working with extensions of the 2023 budget in 2024 and 2025. However, getting the bill passed was not all plain sailing.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the budget in the early hours of December 18, but lawmakers voted against a politically sensitive chapter that would have overturned laws granting funding to universities and people with disabilities. The decision infuriated the Casa Rosada to the point that Milei had to give public assurances that he would not veto his own budget.
The rejection of the chapter was delivered by deputies from provinces such as Catamarca and Tucumán, whose governors are Peronists who have supported Milei in the past. Likewise, some from the normally-supportive UCR broke ranks.
This shows........