US EditionFrench Government Survives No-Confidence Votes on Expenditure Part of 2026 Budget
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu used Article 49.3 to pass a €6.5 billion defense spending boost despite lacking a parliamentary majority in the National Assembly.
- On January 27, 2026, the French government survived two no-confidence votes after ramming through the expenditure part of the 2026 state budget without a final National Assembly vote, as 267 lawmakers backed the hard-left motion but 289 votes were required to bring down the government.
- Following Friday's forced income vote, opposition parties filed no-confidence motions after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced he would do the same with the expense part of the 2026 state budget, prompting hard-left France Unbowed to act.
- The National Assembly rejected both no-confidence motions on Tuesday, with only 140 lawmakers backing the far-right motion and both challenges defeated.
- Using Article 49.3, Lecornu will have to force the bill into law, exposing himself to more no-confidence votes, after surviving two motions on Tuesday.
- France's political instability persists after the 2024 snap poll cost President Emmanuel Macron a parliamentary majority, and the use of Article 49.3 marked an about-face for Lecornu who pledged last year to seek parliament's approval.
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17 Articles
Because of the budgetary dispute in France, right-wing and left-wing forces had each requested a vote of distrust against the government. As expected, both failed.
French government survives no-confidence votes on expenditure part of 2026 budget
The French government survived two votes of no-confidence in parliament on Tuesday over its decision to ram through the expenditure part of the 2026 budget without giving the National Assembly the final say.
The French government of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two new no-confidence votes today over the adoption of part of this year's budget without parliamentary approval, the French news agency AFP reports. The first motion of no-confidence was filed by the far-left France Insubordinate, together with the Greens and the Communists, and the second by the far-right National Assembly.
Prime Minister Lecornu again survives two vote of no confidence in the 2026 budget dispute. The next showdown in Parliament is already ahead.
Attempts to oust the prime minister were made after Sébastien Lecornu again invoked Article 49.3 of the Constitution to push forward with spending in Parliament.
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