The former head of the executive branch knows that the only remaining firepower she has at the national level is in the Senate—not even her 28 loyalists answer to her—and the new Minister of the Interior, Diego Santilli, a keen observer of Peronist dynamics, will attempt to break through. "My mandate runs until February 24, 2026, elected unanimously by the senators, as expressed in articles 1 and 2 of the Senate's regulations," Abdala responded to the Argentine News Agency (NA) when asked about his desire to continue in the post that places him in the line of presidential succession and which he has held for nearly two years. Regarding dialogue with the Casa Rosada on the matter, Abdala acknowledged that there have been no contacts yet with President Javier Milei or the Chief of Staff, Karina Milei. The provisional president of the Senate, Bartolomé Abdala, affirmed that his mandate ends on February 24, 2026, amid rumors that elected senators like Nadia Márquez (Neuquén) and Agustín Coto (Tierra del Fuego) are being considered for his position ahead of the next legislative period. Years ago, the minister had given her blessing to Claudio Poggi for the Governorship of San Luis, in a bitter fight where the PRO intervened on behalf of the current senator. The head of Security had supported Poggi in the agreement between former President Mauricio Macri and Adolfo Rodríguez Saá to oust Alberto Rodríguez Saá. The opposition advanced last Tuesday with the signature of the opinion on the project that modifies the legislation on Decrees of Necessity and Urgency (DNU), employing a suspicious strategy by the Peronist inter-bloc, led by José Mayans, which stamped its signature in dissent. In the meeting of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Peronist Senator Florencia López explained that members of her bloc's committee signed in dissent with the aim of opening the door to the version of the project approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The change that the lower chamber applied in early October was to article 3, which establishes that if Congress does not approve the DNU within 90 days, it loses its validity. Unlike in the Senate, where the law secured a two-thirds majority, in the Chamber of Deputies that article garnered 127 votes and failed to achieve an absolute majority. "We have not spoken at all about that topic with the Government," he summarized to NA. The new head of the block met last week at the Casa Rosada with the elected senators and asked, among other things, for a list of the commissions of interest for each one, as the Argentine News Agency was able to reconstruct from that meeting. Next session in the Senate. The next session in the Senate will be about the changes to the law on Decrees of Necessity and Urgency. The three members of the Executive Branch mentioned have open disputes with the 'nationalist-catholic' faction. These hours recall that November afternoon in 2023 when Villarruel left the Hotel Libertador and, before the press, confessed that she would "only be vice president," when answering questions about the future of the Ministry of Security and Defense, portfolios that remained in the hands of the former Juntos por el Cambio ticket of Bullrich-Luis Petri. Senate: Suspicious signature in dissent from Kirchnerism on the opinion of the project that modifies the DNU. A more recent crossfire was over the gendarme Nahuel Gallo, detained in Venezuela by dictator Nicolás Maduro. The quartet is dynamite. Márquez and Coto are valued by the Mileis and their architects, but they have not yet managed to convince them. The Neuquén woman is on probation for a criminal case related to the issuance of fake tertiary bonds in Neuquén between 1999 and 2004. Other voices directly see that name as unviable, although they admit it would be a heavyweight figure in the new block scheme. The same could happen with Coto, who is backed as one of the best own assets the ruling coalition has to showcase from the interior. The strategy is from Mayans himself, who would bet on getting something before the legislative turnover, sources highlighted. Dubious. To reinforce the argument, Kirchnerist sources told the Argentine News Agency that they would be content only with the article that states that the opposition will no longer need majorities in both chambers to strike down decrees, so it would be enough to reject them in one to leave them without effect. Others see behind this a nod from former President Cristina Kirchner to open a negotiation with the Casa Rosada for vacancies in the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court, and the Prosecutor's Office. Villarruel complained on X and Bullrich came out—Bullrich-style—with all guns blazing, a scene that will soon be reproduced in the Senate chamber, in committees, or in the palace hallways in 2026. Bullrich also has her history with Abdala. In that dispute, Abdala was sidelined and ended up in libertarian ranks. The national political chess moves and perseverance led Abdala to a place he had probably never imagined: the line of presidential succession, now in jeopardy. In this quagmire, Villarruel has managed in recent days to unleash a box of 'chaski boom' in the Senate: she sparked a union scandal that would escalate to the Justice system. However, she leaves some checkboxes blank. In this context, from Balcarce 50 they were considering avoiding the crusade in the Senate to force Abdala's resignation in December and let his mandate expire in February, given several open fronts the ruling coalition has. The main objection to Abdala stems from his ties with the sidelined Vice President and head of the upper house, Victoria Villarruel. Villarruel is annoying the Mileis and Bullrich in the Senate. Villarruel, with an irrelevant agenda, has managed to annoy the Mileis and the new head of the libertarian block, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, in the Senate. She fired Mónica Nieto, who served as Director of Personnel; she is a close collaborator of Norberto Di Próspero, the General Secretary of the Association of Legislative Personnel (APL). The Vice President is also going after the legacy of the senators' offices, another ridiculous crusade that shows the low level to which Karina Milei has managed to sink her. The official will make her mark in the Senate after a brief stint in that arena perfectly known by Eduardo 'Lule' Menem. Ezequiel Atauche is already a thing of the past, who handed over power to Bullrich without a word. "No one asked me anything."
