Congress Resets Its Agenda After Adorni's Farewell: PRO Delivered the Final Blow

Congress breathes again. With the resignation of Manuel Adorni last Saturday, the ruling party lost its main shield in Parliament. Since March, La Libertad Avanza (LLA) had used its majority to block any opposition attempt to summon or demand explanations from the now former Chief of Staff, who could not prove the legality of his alleged asset growth. Now, both chambers have reset their agenda, which had been stalled by the World Cup and maneuvers to protect Adorni.

Last Thursday, LLA in the Senate let the session fall in which the Popular inter-bloc and the PRO wanted to address two requests for interpellation of Adorni. The Chief of Staff dodged for a week, but the following week he was headed for interpellation. The processing of the requests was scheduled for July 1 in the Constitutional Affairs committee. «We’ll see if we make it to Wednesday,» said sources close to a ruling party senator on Friday, when asked whether LLA could reject the summons.

«LLA has six pure votes, we also have six, and seven complete a diverse arc. I get the impression there are eleven secure votes and thirteen possible ones,» a Peronist calculated on Friday. The speculation counted on votes from the PRO, the radicals, and provincial blocs. Thus, Adorni’s fate was sealed in the Senate, and the bloc chaired by Patricia Bullrich saved him as long as it could. Or perhaps it led him to a dead end. There was annoyance with the Chief of Staff when he said on X that he was willing to give his management report, when the head of the LLA bench had suggested he not attend.

In the Chamber of Deputies, the situation was different. Of the 35 signatures on the Constitutional Affairs committee, if the members of Unión por la Patria and Provincias Unidas were added, plus a radical and two from the PRO, the number could be exceeded to issue a ruling. Unlike the Senate, the ruling party’s allies in the Chamber had been more tolerant of Adorni’s scandals. In fact, the PRO, the radicalism, and the provincial blocs boycotted the session requested by the opposition to address the interpellation requests. In a bloc that answers to a governor from the North, they said that «whoever wants to remove him is functional to the government.»

However, ahead of the weekend, when rumors of the Chief of Staff’s resignation began to take shape, Mauricio Macri finally took revenge on the now former chief of staff, who had always resisted. «The PRO will vote for Adorni’s interpellation in both Chambers,» he announced to his supporters in Mar del Plata. Perhaps the true «end» of Karina Milei’s former protégé came at the hands of Congress allies.

In the Senate, LLA sources indicated that the intention is to hold a session for the week of July 9. The bill on Inviolability of Private Property, which had been part of the agenda of the failed session last Thursday, remained on hold. «If they want to speed up, they could also deal with the Super RIGI,» added sources close to an LLA senator, referring to the text that received half-sanction last Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies. The Inviolability of Private Property was ready to have a ruling since, according to the ruling party and allied blocs, it had enough hands to be approved. Peronism disagrees with the project, whose main promoter is the Minister of Deregulation and State Modernization, Federico Sturzenegger. Mayans had stated on Thursday after the truncated session that if approved, «it could leave us without a country,» since «other states could buy land here.»

This week, the Agreements committee will hold two days of public hearing meetings, on June 30 and July 1, in which 27 candidates for judges, appellate judges, and defenders will present. In the Chamber of Deputies, no sessions are in sight, according to sources from the LLA bench. The Lobby bill, which had entered Congress with the Super RIGI, lost ground due to lack of allied support.

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