Argentina’s Budget Splits Milei’s Camp Over Disability Cuts
Key Facts
President Javier Milei’s 2027 budget has met resistance from allies and provincial governors. Its disability chapter has now opened a public rift inside his own party.
Patricia Bullrich, who leads Milei’s La Libertad Avanza bloc in the Senate, said cabinet chief Diego Santilli had told a lie. Santilli had said the changes came up at the weekly political meeting, which Bullrich denied on 20 September.
Why It Matters
The government sent the 2027 budget bill to Congress on 15 September, Pucará Defensa reported. The Rio Times covered its arrival in Congress last week.
Allied lawmakers and governors have pushed back against the disability chapter, Jujuy al Momento reported. A split between the cabinet chief and the Senate leader complicates those talks.
Chapter VI of the bill would amend Law 27.793, the disability emergency law, and Law 24.901 on disability services. The daily Ámbito said it would end universal reference fees and revive a work-incapacity test for non-contributory pensions.
Milei’s party won the 26 October 2025 midterms with 40.66% of the vote for the lower house. Even after that win, it still needs allies to pass laws in the 257-seat Chamber of Deputies.
That is why governors matter, since their provinces’ lawmakers often supply the missing votes. Bullrich, a former security minister, left the cabinet on 1 December 2025 to take her Senate seat.
What the Disability Chapter Would Change
Articles 36 to 41 of the chapter would replace or repeal key parts of Law 27.793, Infobae reported. They would also permanently amend Law 13.478 on disability pensions and Law 24.901, in force since 1997.
Today a single fee schedule, known as the nomenclador, sets what insurers and the state pay for therapies. The draft says that schedule “will not include universal values”, so insurers could pay different amounts.
Fees are now updated automatically every month under article 7 bis of the emergency law, Diario Panorama reported. The bill would scrap that rule and let the National Disability Secretariat set public-sector fees every quarter.
The pension would again depend on proven inability to work and equal 70% of the minimum retirement pay. Jujuy al Momento reported that the disability certificate, known as CUD, would no longer guarantee access.
Any registered job, even for a few hours, would end the pension, according to the same report. Deputy Maximiliano Ferraro of the Civic Coalition said the text replaces an objective rule with a “fragmented, discretionary” system.
Who Said What
On 19 September, Santilli told reporters that party leaders discuss such issues at their Tuesday meetings, Infobae reported. He said some topics were discussed in depth, though not fully.
Bullrich replied on the LN+ television channel that “that is a lie” and that she attended the budget talks. She said Martín Menem, president of the Chamber of Deputies, also knew nothing of the changes, Infobae reported.
Bullrich said the meeting covered growth of 4% and inflation of 21.1% for 2027, but not the disability articles. “Do we crash three times into the same rock?” she asked, according to Diario Panorama.
She warned that sending bills that cannot pass “wears down the President” and invites another veto fight. She also said she did not want to fight with Santilli and would raise the issue with Milei.
People close to Menem said the text had been drafted over four months and had become outdated, Jujuy al Momento reported. Official sources told Infobae the government would back down on the chapter, Jujuy al Momento reported on 19 September.
The Governors’ Leverage
Santilli restarted talks with governors this week, meeting Raúl Jalil, Gustavo Sáenz, Osvaldo Jaldo and Juan Pablo Valdés, Ámbito reported. He also planned meetings with Carlos Sadir, Leandro Zdero and Gustavo Melella, the same report said.
Martín Llaryora, governor of Córdoba, said disability funds and policies are “not negotiable” and that he will back no cut. He asked Córdoba’s lawmakers in Congress not to endorse the cuts either.
Gustavo Sáenz, governor of Salta, said disabled people “cannot be treated like an Excel spreadsheet”, Ámbito reported. He added that fiscal balance must come with “social balance” and that governors’ patience is running out.
Sáenz, Jaldo, Jalil and Valdés have backed government bills before, but their budget votes are not guaranteed. Their objections turn a technical chapter into a test of the coalition that keeps Milei‘s agenda alive.
How Disability Became a Political Battleground
Congress passed the disability emergency law in September 2025, after provider fees fell behind inflation in 2024. Milei vetoed it for lack of funding, and the Chamber of Deputies insisted on the law, Infobae reported.
The government then promulgated it but suspended its application until Congress named a funding source. In December 2025 a federal court in Campana declared the suspension invalid and ordered the law applied.
The government complied with Decree 84/2026, published on 4 February 2026, Infobae reported. The fight also carries the weight of a 2025 scandal at the National Disability Agency, known as ANDIS.
Leaked audio attributed to former agency head Diego Spagnuolo alleged an 8% kickback scheme on contracts. The recordings implicated Karina Milei, the president’s sister, though the allegations have not been proven in court.
The emergency law expires in December, and opposition deputies are pushing to extend it. They forced committee hearings and aimed to reach the floor by mid-October, Jujuy al Momento reported.
What Families and Providers Face
Providers can wait 30, 60 or 90 days to be paid after billing, analyst María Migliore told Infobae. She said the fee schedule fell behind inflation in 2024, pushing some centres to close or cut services.
Diario Panorama reported that the government had approved a 1.7% rise in disability provider fees for September. That increase follows the monthly inflation-linked rule that the budget chapter would abolish.
Activist Valentina Bassi, mother of a teenager with autism, called ending the single fee schedule “lethal”. She said families would have to negotiate therapy costs with their own insurers under the new rules.
What It Means If You Follow Argentina
Investors should read the dispute as a test of Milei’s ability to pass a budget, not of his fiscal targets. Bullrich said the surplus and inflation targets “are not negotiated”, even as the disability text is rewritten.
A drawn-out fight would delay the budget and give governors more room to bargain for provincial funds. For disabled people and their families, the current law and monthly fee updates remain in force for now.
Providers should watch for the replacement text before changing contracts or prices. Anyone assessing political risk should note that the rift is inside the ruling party, not only with the opposition.
What Is Not Yet Known
The government has not published a replacement text for the disability chapter. It is not known whether Bullrich’s bloc will support the budget if the articles stay.
Santilli has not responded in public to Bullrich’s latest remarks. No date has been set for a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
It is unclear whether Congress will extend the disability emergency beyond December. It is also unclear whether Bullrich has yet raised the dispute with Milei in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this dispute matter?
Milei needs allies and governors to pass his 2027 budget. A public clash between two senior officials over disability cuts weakens that coalition.
Why did Patricia Bullrich contradict Diego Santilli?
Santilli said the topics had been discussed at the weekly political meeting. Bullrich said that was a lie and that the changes were never discussed.
What does the 2027 budget change for disability?
It would amend the disability emergency law, end universal reference fees and tighten pension rules. Officials say they will rework it.
What happens to the disability emergency law now?
The law remains in force until it expires in December. Opposition deputies are trying to extend it, while the government wants to replace it.
Sources: Infobae, Bullrich says Santilli’s claim is a lie, Infobae, Santilli responds to Bullrich, Ámbito, Llaryora and Sáenz reject the disability cuts, Diario Panorama, Bullrich and the fee increase, Jujuy al Momento, government to drop the disability chapter, Pucará Defensa, budget submitted on 15 September, Infobae, what the budget changes for disability, Infobae, the emergency law debate and payment delays, Infobae, Decree 84/2026 after the Campana ruling, Wikipedia, 2025 Argentine legislative election, Wikipedia, Presidency of Javier Milei, Wikipedia, Javier Milei and the ANDIS scandal
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