Overview
- Deputies ratified Alberto “Bertie” Benegas Lynch to lead the Budget and Finance Committee, which set a Tuesday timetable to issue opinions on the 2026 Budget and the ‘inocencia fiscal’ bill with a floor vote targeted for this week.
- Alongside the Budget, the government pushes a deficit-ban measure (Law of Commitment for Fiscal and Monetary Stability), but Unión por la Patria said it will not support it and will file minority opinions, and some allies seek further debate in Penal Law due to sanction clauses.
- Interior Minister Diego Santilli shuttled in Congress to lock support as La Libertad Avanza leverages its numbers with PRO, UCR and smaller blocs, while a dispute over committee seats saw the Unidos interbloc protest the allocation method.
- Tensions with PRO widened from Congress to provincial and municipal arenas in Buenos Aires and other districts, complicating negotiations even as both sides signal likely votes for the Budget.
- Mendoza definitively approved the environmental permit for the PSJ Cobre Mendocino project, formalizing a shift toward metal mining, and opponents announced they will challenge the decision in court, while the Presidency publicly cheered José Antonio Kast’s win in Chile.