Macron begins search for new French prime minister as Barnier falls

The budget bill that sank Barnier's government contained €60 billion in tax increases and spending cuts

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Emmanuel Macron is looking for another prime minister on Thursday after the far right joined forces with the left to push through a no-confidence motion against his government over a budget dispute.

The French president needs to find a premier who can pass a 2025 budget through a deeply divided parliament. But any new leader will face the same financial squeeze that brought down Prime Minister Michel Barnier's administration.

The budget bill that sank Barnier's government contained €60 billion ($63 billion) in tax increases and spending cuts that aimed for a reduction in the deficit to 5% of economic output in 2025, from an estimated 6.1% this year.

"This budget was toxic for the French," far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in an interview on French television after she voted to bring down the administration.

Instead, she said, the country needs "a budget that's acceptable to all."