Overview

• President Emmanuel Macron approved a 34-member team that blends political figures with technical appointees after the previous cabinet collapsed within hours.
• Laurent Nuñez becomes interior minister, Jean-Pierre Farandou takes the labor portfolio, Catherine Vautrin is named defense minister, and Roland Lescure assumes the finance post.
• The far-right National Rally and parts of the left are signaling a censure motion, putting the new government at immediate risk in a fragmented National Assembly.
• Les Républicains expelled six members who joined the cabinet, highlighting deep rifts inside the conservative party as the government seeks support.
• The government’s first test is passing a 2026 budget to address debt reported at 115.6% of GDP, with opposition forces pressing to scrap Macron’s pension reform that raised the retirement age.