After Adorni's Departure, Government Seeks to Unblock Senate Agenda with Bullrich as Negotiator

The government of Javier Milei seeks to resume the parliamentary agenda in the Senate, which became completely stalled after the scandal involving Manuel Adorni, the former chief of staff who confessed to hiding half a million dollars to avoid paying taxes. Adorni’s departure from the executive opened a window of opportunity for La Libertad Avanza to try to unblock the projects that were stuck.

The person in charge of leading the negotiations will be the head of the libertarian bloc in the upper house, Patricia Bullrich. The Minister of Security on leave will seek to gather support from the dialoguing blocs to call a session this Thursday. If she does not secure the necessary agreements, the alternative will be July 16, before the winter recess.

To achieve quorum, the ruling party will try to add the support of the PRO, the UCR, Encuentro Misionero, Provincias Unidas, and the provincial blocs Primero los Salteños, Independencia, Despierta Chubut, and La Neuquinidad. The UCR has already stated its position: after Adorni’s resignation, «it is necessary for justice to continue acting and for the Senate to resume the work agenda to achieve the changes that Argentina still needs.»

The Adorni scandal had a direct impact on parliamentary activity. Since the case broke, LLA has only managed to advance, with difficulty, the approval of the agreement with the vulture funds and some judicial appointments, while other key initiatives for the government were sidelined.

The ruling party’s main bet for the next session will be the project on private property. The initiative will reach the floor with modifications from the original text, following observations raised by various sectors during negotiations. One of the changes under analysis aims to set a limit on the number of kilometers of rural land that foreign companies can acquire. Additionally, if the operation involves other states, it is being considered to require approval from the provinces, the national government, and Congress.

The project also includes reforms related to the land law, evictions, expropriations, and fire management regulations. Some proposals initially pushed by the executive would be left out, including modifications to the law on popular neighborhoods.

Another item the Senate will seek to debate is the so-called Super RIGI, recently approved in the Chamber of Deputies. With this initiative, the government aims to encourage large-scale investments in sectors such as technology, mining, energy, oil, infrastructure, and steel.

The legislative agenda also includes the reform of the Mental Health Law. The project has already passed through the Health and General Legislation committees, and the ruling party is working to gather the necessary support to issue a report with changes from the original version. Finally, the treatment of the reform of the General Companies Law continues. The debate began last week and, for now, the initiative remains in the information-gathering stage before moving toward discussion in committee.

Unlike other initiatives, the electoral reform remains stalled due to lack of consensus. The main differences revolve around the elimination of the PASO (open, simultaneous, and mandatory primaries), state funding of campaigns, the possibility of enabling private contributions, and the future of mandatory presidential debates. Given this scenario, the government currently lacks the necessary votes to push the project, and its treatment will remain postponed.

A similar situation affects the Disability Law. The initiative also lacks sufficient support from allied blocs, several of which had backed the norm that was later vetoed by President Milei.

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