President Javier Milei says his government is designing a mechanism that would “shut down” the state once budget funding runs dry, borrowing a device unique to the United States, where recurring shutdowns have idled federal agencies for weeks at a time.
In an interview on Tuesday with the Neura streaming platform, Milei said government officials in his government are working on a bill that would allow state agencies to shut down automatically once they run out of money.
“We are working on designing the Executive branch’s ‘shutdown’ – in reality, the political system’s shutdown. When you run out of budget, the state switches off,” Milei said.
In the United States, a shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass, or the President refuses to sign, funding for federal agencies before existing appropriations expire. Non-essential functions grind to a halt and employees are furloughed or made to work without pay, though essential services continue.
The mechanism has become a recurring feature of Washington gridlock in recent decades. The longest shutdown in US history ran from October 1 to November 12, 2025, lasting 43 days in a standoff over healthcare subsidies.
Milei gave no details on how such a mechanism would work under Argentina’s constitutional framework, where budget powers are shared between the Presidency and Congress.
The government shutdown clause is part of a wider reform package Milei said he is finalising with Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili and Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger.
It also touches the Central Bank’s charter, capital markets rules and a new ‘Fiscal Innocence’ bill, said Milei.
Government officials first trailed the package last week following a meeting with lawmakers from Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party.
In the interview, Milei said the proposed reforms are an attempt to “repair 91 years of fraud by politicians against decent Argentines.”
Among the biggest changes would be a proposal to prohibit the Central Bank from issuing money to finance the state.
“It will be explicitly prohibited – with criminal penalties – to violate the Central Bank’s independence by financing the Treasury,” Milei said in the streaming interview.
“Printing money will be punishable because it is fraud. In fact, the Criminal Code defines fraud, and counterfeiting currency is a criminal offence.
“Monetary policy does not exist in a vacuum,” said the President.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
