23/06/2026 15:50 - Politica
The special session called by the opposition for this Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies failed due to lack of quorum, after a last-minute agreement between the ruling party La Libertad Avanza and the allied blocs of PRO and UCR. Only 117 legislators were present, when 129 were required to begin the debate.
The political move, orchestrated by the president of the Lower House, Martín Menem, allowed the ruling party to gain time amidst the scandal involving Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni, investigated for alleged illicit enrichment after a 775% increase in his patrimony (from $20 million to $944 million).
The following political blocs chose not to attend, preventing the session from starting:
These opposition blocs did go to the floor to try to start the session:
The ruling party's counterproposal arrived just before the session. Martín Menem promoted the convening of the Constitutional Affairs committee for next Tuesday, June 30 at 15:00 hours, where the file for the interrogation of Adorni will begin to be processed.
From the PRO, they argued that "it made more sense for a political linkage issue to coordinate with the ruling party than to vote with Kirchnerism." Cristian Ritondo, head of the yellow bench, thus achieved an intermediate solution that avoided publicly defending Adorni while maintaining the alliance with the Government.
Key Context: This would be the first time since the creation of the Cabinet Chief figure (1994 Constitution) that Congress would apply a censure motion. The ruling party argues that they want to be "serious" and avoid setting a bad precedent.
There is an interpretive dispute regarding Article 101 of the Constitution that remains unresolved:
Article 101 "has operative character," so the interrogation should not go through committee. They threatened to vote by absolute majority (half plus one).
The request for interrogation must first go through committee to obtain an opinion, or be approved "on the table" with a two-thirds majority (impossible for the opposition).
"Throughout history, Congress has always understood that Article 101 of the Constitution was not operative, which is why there are a dozen projects presented to regulate its operation. The precedents are on our side."
| Date | Event | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| 30/06/2026 | Constitutional Affairs Committee begins debate | Committee processing starts |
| 02/07/2026 | Adorni appears in Senate | Management report and questions on patrimony |
| No date | Petitions, Powers and Regulations Committee | Not yet convened |
The dissident radical deputy Pablo Juliano (United Provinces) harshly criticized the agreement:
"You (the UCR) are condemning Argentina to an institutional crisis. You who think you can make society believe for an instant that it pays to support Adorni. No problem, the most important sentence is already on your shoulders, and the sentence is held by the people, that he is corrupt, that he lied to the people, that he lied to Congress."
For his part, the socialist Esteban Paulón warned:
"They have won a few days, not for Adorni to fix the numbers because he already tried and couldn't. Milei himself knows that Adorni is a 'nail' he can't keep dragging."
The agreement allowed the ruling party to kill two birds with one stone:
The issue is referred to committee without a deadline for an opinion, moving the floor vote further away.
On Wednesday, the Super RIGI and payment to two vulture funds due at the end of the month will be addressed.
The censure motion against Manuel Adorni has 120 of the 129 required signatures. The Cabinet Chief remains in his post despite having lost the presidential spokesperson role, a position now held by economist and deputy Adrián Ravier.
Federal judge Ariel Lijo is in charge of the case for alleged illicit enrichment. The questioned patrimony shows an increase of 775%, going from $20 million to $944 million declared.
The ruling party's expectation is that PRO and UCR will replicate the same strategy in the Senate: demand that the Peronist project pass first through committee before being voted on the floor.
Alfredo S. Quiroga
