French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has survived two no-confidence votes in the National Assembly after pushing through the expenditure section of the 2026 budget without a parliamentary vote, allowing the budget process to move forward.
The first motion, backed by left-wing parties, received 267 votes, falling short of the 289 needed to topple the government. A second motion, introduced by the far-right, gained significantly less support and was also rejected.
Lecornu defended his decision to use special constitutional powers to pass the budget, describing it as a necessary step to ensure stability and highlighting increased defence spending as a key priority. The move followed a similar procedure used earlier for the revenue section of the budget.
The budget will now be reviewed by the upper house before returning to the National Assembly for final adoption, a process that may again expose the government to further no-confidence challenges. France has faced ongoing political uncertainty since the loss of a parliamentary majority in last year’s snap elections.