Double setback for Milei as Congress overturns two vetoes

President Javier Milei suffered a new setback Thursday as Congress overturned his vetoes of laws increasing funding for public universities and for paediatric care.

Senators invalidated both vetoes, which had already been rejected by the lower house Chamber of Deputies, bringing to three the number of laws upheld by Congress despite vehement opposition from Milei.

The upper house voted 59 to seven, with three abstentions, to override the veto on the paediatric emergency. The law boosting funding for public universities drew a near identical tally, with 58 votes in favour, seven against and four abstentions.

Outside Congress, around a hundred people cheered the reversals. Psychology student Tomás Bossi said he was "proud" of the result.

"We have been fighting and resisting for over a year against the appalling underfunding of national universities by the government," he said.

Milei has managed to reduce inflation from 211 percent in 2023, when he took office, to 118 percent in 2024,. In the first eight months of the year, it has totalled almost 20 percent.

However, that progress has come at the cost of massive austerity, with cutbacks devastating the public sector, particularly state hospitals and universities.

The president had justified his blocking of these funds by arguing that "there is no money" to support them.

"Milei never talks about health or education, ever. He talks about country risk, monetary risk," complained UCR Senator Martín Lousteau in the chamber during debate.

Peronist Senator Daniel Bensusán argued that the spending debate "is not technical, fiscal or accounting: it is political and moral.”

The laws that Milei tried to block will update the higher education budget in line with inflation from 2023 and improve the salaries of teachers and support staff.

A paediatric emergency will also be declared, granting extra funds to the Garrahan Children’s Hospital, the top paediatric care institution in the country. 

"I am very hopeful that something will change," said Alejandra Maldonado, 50, a neonatal nurse at Garrahan, outside Congress.

Poor week

The legislative defeats come at the end of another poor week for Milei. The La Libertad Avanza leader is struggling to end a run on the peso in the run-up to crucial October 26 midterm elections.

The 54-year-old right-winger, in power since December 2023, has been on the ropes since his party's trouncing by the opposition Peronist coalition in a Buenos Aires Province legislative vote last month.

That election, seen as a bellwether ahead of the midterms, sent markets into a tailspin.

Last week, the US government announced it was in talks with Argentina on a US$20-billion swap line aimed at shoring up the peso.

US President Donald Trump sought to buoy his close ally during talks in New York, saying: "He's doing a fantastic job." 

But after rallying briefly, the peso slumped again this week over market uncertainty about the amount and extent of the US financial help on offer.

The Republican has also invited Milei to the White House on October 14 as he looks to boost a key US ally in the Americas.

– TIMES/AFP