MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei abolishes the Interior Ministry, expanding Santilli's role ahead of Congress talks

President Javier Milei had anticipated the reform after appointing Santilli to replace Manuel Adorni, who resigned last week amid a judicial investigation into alleged illicit enrichment

Argentina's government abolished the Interior Ministry and transferred its functions to the cabinet chief's office, headed by Diego Santilli, through an emergency decree published on Thursday in the Official Gazette. The measure places the political relationship with governors, provinces, municipalities, the City of Buenos Aires and Congress under the coordinating minister's remit, along with powers over the electoral system and political parties. With the change, the national cabinet is reduced to eight ministries.

President Javier Milei had anticipated the reform after appointing Santilli to replace Manuel Adorni, who resigned last week amid a judicial investigation into alleged illicit enrichment. “Much of the work has to do with working with the governors and requires political muscle,” the president said in a television interview, referring to the profile of the new cabinet chief, a former interior minister. The government argued that the reorganization seeks to eliminate overlapping administrative structures and improve coordination between areas.

The measure, however, does not represent a straightforward strengthening of Santilli. The decree creates two deputy cabinet-chief posts —one for the cabinet office and one for Interior— to organize the new structure, and both went to officials considered close to Karina Milei, the president's sister and secretary general of the presidency, according to official sources. Guillermo Ignacio Devitt was named deputy cabinet chief and Gustavo Coria deputy chief for Interior, the latter with responsibility for relations with provinces, parliamentary liaison and the National Electoral Directorate. The appointment comes amid an internal dispute within the governing bloc in which the president's sister's circle has gained ground over that of adviser Santiago Caputo.

The decree also completes a process of reducing the area's functions that began months earlier. In November 2025, shortly after Santilli took office as interior minister, another decree had already stripped him of powers, transferring tourism and environment to the cabinet office and migration policy to the Security Ministry. With the new rule, the portfolio disappears entirely and its obligations, staff and budget appropriations pass to the cabinet chief's office.

The reform takes effect upon publication, though it must be submitted to Congress's Permanent Bicameral Committee for review, in line with the procedure for emergency decrees. Under the new arrangement, Santilli becomes the central interlocutor for governors, municipalities and lawmakers, decisive terrain for a government that needs votes to sustain its agenda in Congress. The governing bloc's stated goal is to concentrate political negotiation in a more compact structure, whose effectiveness will be measured in its relationship with the provinces and in Parliament.