Argentine president Javier Milei said on Tuesday that he will send Congress a bill to create a U.S.-style government shutdown mechanism for Argentina. He said the measure would stop the executive branch, or the broader political system, from spending when the budget runs out.
"We are working on bringing about a shutdown of the executive branch — or more accurately put, of the political system," Milei said, adding: "When the budget runs out, you can’t spend any more, and the government shuts down." The proposal is part of a wider package he says is meant to relaunch his administration.
Olivos meeting with Caputo
Milei met Luis Caputo, Federico Sturzenegger, and Santiago Bausili at the president’s official residence in Olivos on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the bill. The meeting followed his administration’s presentation of its financial plan for this year and next year on Monday, putting the shutdown proposal inside a broader push to lock in spending limits.
The package is linked to a project to reform the Central Bank statute. Milei said that project would guarantee the Central Bank’s independence from political powers and prohibit it from issuing new currency to finance the treasury. He described that provision this way: "It is going to prohibit, explicitly and subject to criminal penalties, the violation of the Central Bank’s independence by requiring it to finance the government."
Central Bank reform package
Milei said the broader plan also includes amendments to the capital markets law, a new fiscal amnesty program, deregulation of the insurance market, and changes to tax structures. He called it "a set of reforms designed to make amends for 91 years of political fraud against law-abiding Argentinians." He also said that printing money to sustain public spending amounts to "fraud and counterfeiting are criminal."
The political push comes while Milei’s administration is described as being in a nearly four-month crisis. Manuel Adorni resigned 10 days ago amid a judicial siege and public disapproval, adding pressure to a government already trying to sell a tighter fiscal model and a sharper break with past spending rules.
Congress and Argentina
Milei said he has visited the United States 17 times since his election and that he has made Donald Trump’s friends and enemies his own. Congress now holds the next step on the shutdown proposal: whether to turn Milei’s bill into law or reject it. For Argentine households, firms, and public agencies, the practical question is simple — whether the state keeps spending after budget authority expires, or stops until lawmakers act.
