France's National Assembly unanimously rejects the 2027 budget bill, sending the government draft to the Senate

France's National Assembly unanimously rejected the 2027 state budget bill on Wednesday night. The rejection makes it harder for Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to push through 43 billion euros in budget savings.

A total of 458 lawmakers voted against the first part of the bill, which deals with tax income. Members of President Emmanuel Macron's camp voted against it alongside the opposition. Amendments from various groups had changed the text so extensively that in the end no side was happy with it.

With the first part struck down, the second part, covering spending, also fell. The government's original draft budget will now go directly to the Senate, where it will be debated from November 20.

The lower chamber had already rejected the other leg of the 2027 budget, which covers state pensions and the health care system. That text will also now be discussed in the Senate.

France's economy is stagnating, debt is piling up and the risk of a financial crisis looms over the country. Lecornu's government is under pressure to put French finances in order. It has pledged to bring the deficit, the difference between how much the government spends and how much it brings in, down to 5 percent of gross domestic product next year.

Budget Minister David Amiel warned on Wednesday that, after the amendments, the version rejected that night would have brought the deficit to 5.9 percent.

Lecornu lacks a majority in the lower chamber, so the rejection was widely expected. It increases the chances that the government will try to force the text through without a parliamentary vote.

The April 2027 presidential election is approaching, and the government has repeatedly insisted that it aims to adopt the budget by the end of the year. It failed to do that with the two previous budgets.

The government could use Article 49.3 of the Constitution, a provision that allows it to bypass a parliamentary vote but exposes it to no-confidence motions. It could also adopt the budget through executive orders, an option unprecedented in France's recent history.