French Budget Heads Toward Game of Chicken With Le Pen

  • Senate to debate bill after lower house rejects amended text
  • Government likely to face a no-confidence vote in December
Marine Le Pen’s party could support a no-confidence motion from leftist lawmakers to bring down the government.Photographer: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images
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France’s budget is advancing through fractious parliamentary debates toward a precipice in December when far-right leader Marine Le Pen can let the bill become law, or trigger chaos by toppling the government in a no-confidence vote.

The initial version of a budget that was designed to plug widening holes in public finances and reassure investors is subject to a succession of votes and thousands of amendments as it winds between parliamentary committees and the floors of the National Assembly and the Senate until mid-December.