Overview

• Vice President Victoria Villarruel reluctantly enabled an opposition-driven session after provinces and senators autoconvoked the Senate to debate seven budget-related projects
• The chamber approved a 7.2% increase in pensions with an updated bonus, extended the pension moratorium by two years and declared a disability emergency despite government objections
• Bills to mandate automatic distribution of Aportes del Tesoro Nacional and the fuel tax to provinces have secured support from 60 of 72 senators and await two-thirds votes to move forward
• A faction of governors who previously opposed social spending measures reversed course and backed the pension package, exposing fractures among provincial leaders
• President Javier Milei publicly denounced governors for ‘trying to destroy the national government’ as the legislature asserts its leverage over fiscal federalism