While one may wonder whether President Macron will be able to withstand the heat unleashed by his decision to steamroll an unpopular pension reform bill through the French parliament, there is little question his old foe, Marine Le Pen, wants to boot him from the kitchen. 

The fate of a deeply unpopular reform bill under which the French retirement age will rise to 64 from 62 has been looming for months because Mr. Macron lacked the parliamentary majority needed to pass it by a vote. So on Thursday the French president chose to bypass the risk of a humiliating defeat for his government and opted to activate the so-called 49.3 rule, which is synonymous with forced passage of a bill.