Argentine ruling coalition passes budget but fails to uphold controversial article

During a marathon session in the Chamber of Deputies, the ruling coalition managed to pass the 2026 Budget Bill in general, but suffered a setback by failing to uphold the controversial Article 75, which sought to repeal the emergency laws on Disability and university funding. The initiative was approved in general with 132 votes in favor, 97 against, and 17 abstentions, and was sent to the Senate without Chapter XI, which included Article 75. The defeat of Chapter XI, which garnered only 117 positive votes against 123 negative ones and two abstentions, was euphorically celebrated by the entire opposition. In the general vote, La Libertad Avanza managed to rally its allies from PRO, UCR, Innovation Federal, and other minority forces linked to various provinces. Meanwhile, Unión por la Patria and the Front of the Left voted against, while Provincias Unidas abstained. The controversy erupted because the ruling coalition incorporated all these measures into Chapter XI to condition various political forces into supporting an entire package of measures, without allowing them to express their 'for' or 'against' stance on them individually. 'This is extortion,' denounced Civic Coalition deputy Maximiliano Ferraro, warning that those who vote in favor of Article 75 would be 'violating the Financial Administration Law'. The head of the Unión por la Patria bloc, Germán Martínez, explained the mechanism used by the ruling coalition to protect Article 75, calling it a 'perversion'. 'To continue shielding Article 75, they keep putting things in Chapter XI so that the rest cannot distance themselves from it'. He also pointed out that the goal is to condition the Judiciary so that 'it doesn't even occur to them to question the vote on Chapter XI, otherwise their funding to the Judicial Power will fall'. 'They are a bunch of scoundrels!' roared the Santa Fe lawmaker. She was countered by La Libertad Avanza deputy Silvana Giudici: 'Shut up when you talk about tricks and things being arranged behind closed doors!'. 'Stop spreading terrorism, there is no risk or trick,' she added. Pablo Juliano, of Provincias Unidas, accused the ruling coalition of 'screwing over the people big time' and pointed out that they could have easily adjusted the bill to avoid harming retirees and people with disabilities. With sarcasm, he defined the president of the Budget and Finance Committee, Bertie Benegas Lynch, as the 'champion of sneaking in articles at midnight and really screwing over the people'.