After Pope Leo XIV's departure from Argentina, the Government came face to face with everything it still has to do with less than 50 days to go until a year-end that is emerging as the most complicated for Javier Milei's administration since he took office. The delicate political-economic situation comes right at the start of the race for presidential reelection. When shops in the City are already offering tassels and Christmas garlands, and the streets return to their usual traffic, the Casa Rosada is accelerating to try to unblock the agenda. After months of delay, the ruling party is making moves to eliminate the PASO primaries, while quietly lamenting the latest inflation figure. The Government has set three initiatives it wants approved by the end of 2026: the budget, the so-called "Malvinas law," and the bill for accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Next Tuesday there will be a political roundtable, an instance that has not met since October 20. But the Cabinet has not yet been convened. If 2023 was the euphoria of winning the presidential election, 2024 celebrated the austerity, the public accounts surplus, and the President's positive image. Meanwhile, 2025 had the debacle that led to the financial rescue by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but it ended with a legislative victory for the ruling party. 2026 adds other obstacles. Patricia Bullrich and the leaders of her inner circle, a sign of differentiation from the Government. There is a battery of bills in Congress that have still not been approved, crossed by the ups and downs in the relationship with allied governors. There is the ever-larger internal problem with Senator Patricia Bullrich, who is differentiating herself and threatening with a candidacy. And economic noises are emerging that affect Milei's performance in the polls: growth remains in the red for the sectors that demand the most labor, such as industry and commerce, and inflation is not taking the pace toward the promised zero, but rather remains around 2 points. To reactivate the growth of the Argentine economy, Milei promised these days more openness, up to "90%," he said. His Cabinet has for months been appealing to creativity and thinking about how to encourage credit and investments without touching the plan. Still nothing concrete. There, Economy Minister Luis Caputo rules, always with the President's final filter, not eager for actions that move consumption or touch exchange rate policy. In the Ministry of Deregulation they are working on some issues, but a mega legislative project is not looming for year-end. For now, Milei sells hope for times that would imply his reelection. The latest stumble was that the President's star indicator marked 2.2% in October, according to Indec. Higher than what the market and the Government itself expected. Faced with this scenario in which the numbers do not match the ruling party's wishes, discursive arguments become more important. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, the division with the largest increase. Indec. "Core inflation came in at 1.5%. It was a month with high oil volatility, which pushed inflation up a bit. Taking out the seasonal items, we should be at a number similar to last month's [1.9% in September]. In the first ten days of November it dropped considerably, it's improving," they sought to explain at the Casa Rosada. But, in the same argument, they admitted: "We were expecting a lower figure." The discomfort was also exposed when spokesman Adrián Ravier strove to argue that, despite Milei's abhorrence of social justice, the libertarian precepts are not so far from the social doctrine of the Church that Pope Leo XIV expounded during his visit, which mobilized millions of Argentines. The security operation was indeed a success and a reason to celebrate now that the warm weather arrives. "The President and Karina are very happy. We worked very well with all the jurisdictions and exchanged very affectionate messages with the Church," Government sources assured LA NACION. A point in favor in a cold relationship. Alejandra Monteoliva —who will have a few days off due to a routine operation— is one of those who has the approval of Karina Milei, and the hard-line policy will be a libertarian banner heading into the electoral year. "Everything the Government has done is to put the economy at the service of the people," Ravier affirmed with the Pope already in Peru, like a mantra of self-conviction by the Government that Leo XIV's remarks were not at all directed at them, not even his repeated gestures in favor of disability, university, and science policies. Despite these responses, with which the Casa Rosada avoids admitting its shortcomings, reelection is not assured and that hastens the need to adjust the electoral calendar. Eliminating the PASO, ruling party voices understand, will not only make ordering more difficult for Peronism, but will also take away maneuvering room from Bullrich, who is rehearsing a republican Mileism. The presidential spokesman, Adrián Ravier. Presidencial. On Thursday, from one moment to the next and after months without progress, the call to the strategic Senate Agreements Commission was activated. Quite a few officials were surprised, even within Karinism. "We are confident that the votes are there and that next week we will achieve the opinion," said an important voice from that space. Another, however, was skeptical. She attributed this push to an attempt to exert pressure toward the internal front and rush Bullrich, whom her colleagues distrust as to whether she is actually working to ensure there are no primaries. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, one of the senator's dissidents, has already hammered on the radio that the electoral reform must advance in the Senate because that is "the direction" the Government wants. The Chief of Staff, Diego Santilli, has long been saying he has the numbers to eliminate the PASO; not everyone believes him. In tandem with Caputo, he was one of the main promoters of an agreement with the governors. There are officials who understand that Santilli wants to close the primaries as soon as possible to go out campaigning in the Province. "He is also negotiating his own," was heard. At the legislative level, in addition to the PASO, the priority for the Casa Rosada is to approve the 2027 budget bill. They also note the Malvinas law and the PCT, which returned to the Senate for review. If the Budget and the Malvinas law are not approved by the upper chamber before November 30, when ordinary sessions end, there will be extraordinary sessions. "We will surely have them," Menem anticipated. The Senate has always been the most difficult chamber for Milei. Another pending item there is completing the Supreme Court of Justice, which has two of its five seats vacant. The Casa Rosada has not yet completely written it off, but official sources agree that the time is short for such a discussion. "If it's not in the next ten days, this year is already done," summarized a voice in the know. Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques. Santiago Filipuzzi. But in the Judiciary there is another even more vacant post: that of Attorney General of the Nation, an aspiration of Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques, who has achieved everything he set out to do and fulfilled what the Milei siblings asked of him. What if his nomination for Attorney General is sent alone, without that of the courtiers, to the Senate, in a kind of express procedure before year-end? Speculation is rife at Balcarce 50. In the Senate, today everything is subordinated to the political reform; if it moves forward there is a chance; if it stalls, it further complicates the ruling party's year-end. By Paula Rossi