Fresh setback for Milei as Congress overturns two presidential vetoes

Lawmakers in Argentina’s lower house dealt President Javier Milei two heavy political defeats on Wednesday, overturning his vetoes of bills that will boost funding for paediatric care and state universities.

As the Casa Rosada had feared, the opposition secured the required two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies in both cases. The measures now head to the Senate for final approval.

It was a tense session in the lower house. The defeat for the ruling party marks the government’s first major parliamentary defeat since its electoral loss in Buenos Aires Province earlier this month.

The first vote concerned the declaration of a paediatric emergency in Argentina, focusing mainly on conditions facing staff at the prestigious Garrahan Children’s Hospital. Workers at the institution have walked off the job on repeated occasions in protest at working conditions and low pay.

Milei’s veto of the bill was rejected by 181 votes to 60, comfortably reaching the required majority.

Minutes later, deputies turned their attention to the National Universities Funding Law. A slightly lower margin, 174, voted to overturn the veto with 67 opposed. 

As the vote concluded, opposition lawmakers rose from their seats and broke into chants in defence of state higher education.

Both measures will now go to the Senate, where the opposition will again need a two-thirds majority to secure their passage into law.

– TIMES/NA