Macron (Narrowly) Survives

A pension reform bill raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 in France was passed into law Monday after a no-confidence motion failed to pass the National Assembly. The vote was planned late last week after President Emmanuel Macron's chosen prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, used a procedural tactic to prematurely curtail debate on the bill.

A total of 278 lawmakers voted in support of the no-confidence motion, nine shy of the 287 needed. Had it passed, the cabinet would have been forced to resign, and Macron's signature legislation would have been rejected. Opponents of the bill are reportedly planning to ask the Constitutional Council to weigh in on the law's constitutionality.

Many lawmakers called for Borne to step down after the vote, pointing to an eighth nationwide strike planned for Thursday. Thousands of protesters across the country demonstrated against the bill over the weekend, with at least 300 arrests amid clashes with police.