President Javier Milei announced Tuesday that his administration is drafting legislation to introduce a United States-style government shutdown mechanism in Argentina as part of a broader package of economic reforms it plans to send to Congress.
In the U.S., a government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass funding legislation before the start of a new fiscal year, forcing non-essential parts of the federal government to suspend operations until a budget is approved.
Milei said he wants to create a similar mechanism that would automatically curb public spending once the budget’s authorized funds are exhausted.
Under Argentina’s current system, if Congress fails to approve a budget for the following fiscal year, the most recently approved budget remains in force.
That happened in both 2024 and 2025 — Milei’s two first years in office — when the national government operated under the 2023 budget.
